Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezabel's Voyage
by Halloween Witch
Summary: It was a quiet and dull moving experience for Jezebel Emery-Twin who moved from one side of the Hoenn region to another to be closer to her father and start her pokemon journey. Instead of going to her father for a first pokemon like was planned, she ended up receiving one of Professor Birch's pokemon when he's attacked. Full summery inside!
1. A Rough Start

_Full Summery: It was a quiet and dull moving experience for Jezebel Emery-Twin who moved from one side of the Hoenn region to another to be closer to her father and start her pokemon journey. Instead of going to her father for a first pokemon like was planned, she ended up receiving one of Professor Birch's pokemon when he's attacked. Things turn from bad to worse when she realizes that her family is connected to the crime in Hoenn. Does she stay and fight, or does she numb herself and hide away?_

_**Quick Witch's Note: Uh oh… I think we're looking at a Violet II. **_

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 1: A Rough Start_

**Third Person's Point of View:**

From a far away land, further away from Kanto and Johto then anyone most likely has ever been, a single woman and man can be barely seen in the darkness of a mountain range. A small figure floated over them and grinned down at any unsuspecting pokemon that lay sleeping while the group of three moved.

"Sis? Are we almost there?" the male questioned the female as they approached a clearing in the mountain's maze on its outer crust.

"Just up ahead Razi, that's where the Aqua and Magma confrontation is going on." The female jumped up into the air and threw her metallic hands into the rock and climbed quickly to the top, not bothering to wait on her little brother.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, the female looked down to a little area where many men and woman had powerful fire and water pokemon that were being used against each other in battle. From one side of the battlefield were people dressed in black and red clothing with hoods over their heads, mostly hiding their faces. One the other side of the field, blue clad men and woman could be seen with black and white striped shirts and blue pants and bandanas, the head gear also covering their eyes for the most part.

Rose looked at the scene and smiled as screaming and cries could be heard, as well as blood drawn. "Beautiful…"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I was startled awake from my dreamless slumber when I felt the truck I was riding inside of started to slow down. I sighed as I realized that all hell was going to break loose at one point or another and I really didn't want to stick around for that to happen. I didn't care where we moved to, where we lived. I could handle the temperature changes as they came, I could handle the difference in climate and oxygen in the air.

The one thing I couldn't handle and would _not_ stand for was the arguing between my family.

It seemed to happen in a set, like all troubles do, never at once as most people like to believe. My uncles were the start of it, a single brother related to each of my parents. They couldn't stand each other, their voices, their appearance; I could hardly spend any time with them when they came to visit because they were always bitching at the other.

Next were my aunts, fraternal twin sisters that looked nothing alike each other that were each married to one of my uncles. The two of them always found some imperfection about each other to snap at them about, which eventually would turn into a cat fight of sorts. Things never stayed peaceful with them around.

My cousins were another part of it; on either side I had two of them, a boy and a girl. One set of them were twins, the other, no so much. While they got along fine with me and with their sibling, they still tended to argue with the other set of cousins. It made childhood a very lonely part of my life, with no one to fall back on, other family members or friends, because all I had was the ten of them (and I pretty much was the odd one out and never fought.)

The last of them were my parents; it seemed like a never ending cycle with them. They would be all happy together and then suddenly, a flare, a spark, something bad would happen and the two would be at each other's throats ready to strike the killing blow. They would separate and then meet much later on with acting like it was nothing more then water under the bridge.

It honestly sickened me to death.

It annoyed me so much because all the fighting tore apart my family. I hardly saw my uncles anymore and hardly hear from them with a small email or post card here or there compared to the long letters I try to send them. And my parents, well, my dad runs a pokemon gym and is the leader over in Petleburg City, so it's not like he can move away even if he wanted. My mom ends up taking me most places far on the other side of the region or off on islands to get as far away from him as possible without leaving the region. We were recently all the way over in Foretree City before Mom had us move back near by so she and Dad still had some space and hopefully prevent the next large explosion for at least a little while.

I felt the truck come to a stop and I looked up in the dark room with light slipping in between the door and the floor of the metal beast I road in back of with all our boxes. I heard the door latch come undone and it was pulled open for the light to suddenly blind me. I shielded my eyes and growled.

_Great, here we go again…_

"Come on Jezzy! We have to unpack! Oh I know this house will do us wonders! Come on, come on!" My mother quickly stepped up into the truck and pulled me to my feet and dragged me out of the solitude I was enjoying in the truck. "I'm sorry you had to ride with all our things honey, but I'm sure you'll love it here." She patted my hair and pulled me out of the way of the movers and their pokemon helping them. A few sets of vigoroths were helping with the heavy lifting.

My mother was a small woman, she was shorter then I was and I was only thirteen compared to her thirty-five. Her hair was a bright red in color that cascaded down her back in ringlets while her smile was bright, but her eyes were dark, a dark green to be precise. She was dressed in faded, worn out jeans and a paint stained red shirt that she was going to use for moving in our things.

I sighed and looked around the town. It was a small town that seemed to be situated in the middle of a forest. The temperature was mild, warm and cool enough to be bearable without heavy or light clothing. It was the late season of spring, just a few days after my birthday, which my mother surprised me was a moving trip near back home. Close enough for me to easily walk, run or bike all the way to Dad's gym in Petleburg and back in only an hour.

Like all other places in the Hoenn region, the place was littered with pokemon. I never had a strong connection to any pokemon except for the ones that my dad had, especially his slacking. I missed her most out of the few dear friends I actually had in my life that I was constantly ripped away from. Slacking was the most caring of them all and treated me no different then her own child. She cared for me and wiped away the tears I cried when my parents argued or when I was afraid. I'd have to go see her soon…

But there were also a few others, pokemon that I'd made the strongest of connections with that I also had to leave behind. My mother never liked them for some reason and forbid me from being with them, I hated her for that. She tore me away from them just like she did my dad and Slacking…

"Go on Jezzy! Go look at your new room! Its nice and large and you'll have lots of space to decorate!" My mother kept going on and on about how I'd love this new area, just like she always did and pushed me inside. "Go on, go on! Set your clock! Start unpacking! I'm going to get started myself!"

I sighed and allowed my mother to push me towards the new room she'd given me. It was a fairly large room, like she'd said. A bed was already made and up while a desk in the corner on the opposite side of the room already had a computer hooked up onto it. The walls were lighter gray and the floors were wooden and stained. It was a nice room, but I doubt I'd be here long enough to learn or try and enjoy it before my mother would have us pack up and move again.

I walked over to the clock that I had situated on the wall; pink in color (of course my mother would choose a _girly_ color for me) and I set it to the time that was listed at the bottom corner of my computer. Once I was done with that, I locked my door and I quietly opened the window and slipped out onto the roof and then closed it behind me. There was a tree next to my window, so I would be easily able to get in and out without my mother knowing all the time.

"Hey!" I gasped and whipped around my head to see a white haired boy looking up at me on the roof. He looked to be around my age and was dressed as a trainer, or soon to be one. He had on a red and black short sleeved jacket with a collar and fingerless gloves of the same color with the exception of a single green line that went around his wrist toward the end of the gloves. For some strange reason, he seemed to be wearing black jeans with the same color shorts over them that came down to his knees. Green, red and grey shoes were on his feet while a green, single strapped back pack was strapped on and a light green bandana was on his head with a pale light green circle on it, that seemed to be folded back and in half.

He looked like he was about to say more and I sucked in a breath. I leapt from the roof and my arms locked and swung a bit on a high branch on the tree, slowing my fall before I released the branch and hit the ground and sped at him, covering his mouth before he could utter another word. I looked around in panic to see or hear my mother, thankfully, I didn't. I sighed and released him, releasing when I knew all was right once more.

"Wow! That was pretty cool!" I blinked and looked over at the boy who complimented me. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"I just moved here, you wouldn't know anything about me yet." I fired back and the boy took a step back. I blinked and backed off a bit. "Sorry, I'm in a bit of a dull mood."

"No, it's alright, I just was worried when I saw you up on the roof, normally girls around here don't do that," the boy replied. He held out his hand. "My name's Casey, Casey Birch, I'm the son of Professor Richard Birch that lives in this town. What's your name?"

I took his hand and shook it well. "Name's Jezebel Emery-Twain, I guess you can call me Jez for short if you'd like. My mom and I just moved here from Foretree."

"Oh that's so cool! I've always wanted to go there and see what types of pokemon lived in the area!" Casey gushed over my most recently lived town. "Hey, why exactly were you on the roof of your house, it almost looked like you were escaping."

"You better believe it." He raised his eyebrows at me. "My parents don't always get along, so I don't like to stick around, whether they're both here or not. So I often sneak out while my Mom's busy or what not and explore and enjoy my solitude."

"Ouch, that's harsh," Casey muttered. "Do you have any other friends?"

"Do pokemon count?"

"I don't see why they can't, but I meant human friends? Do you have any of them?"

"Nope, moved around too much and too fast to make any."

"Do you want one?"

"That'd be nice…"

"Can I be your first friend then?"

"What?" I was totally taken back by the request. I blinked at him a few many times. "Repeat that please, I think I heard you wrong."

"Sure, can I be your first friend?" His eyes and posture never wavered as he asked me that. He was also the first one to ever ask me that question. It was… a good feeling that I had from it.

"I'd like that Casey." I gave him a grin, a rare feature on my part and he did the same facial feature back to me.

"I know!" He grinned and gently grabbed my wrist. "Come on over to my house! My mom's making cookies and you can meet my sister too!"

"What about your dad?"

Casey waved it off. "He's studying out in the woods right now, and he wouldn't care even if he was around. He's a really laid back guy. So, friend, you coming?"

I looked back up to my newest house and gazed at the window I just escaped out of. "Yeah," I turned back to him, "Let's go!"

Casey led me next door to his house and as soon as we walked in, the sweet smell of ginger hit my nostrils and I breathed in the wonderful scent. If I ever wanted homemade cookies or something, I had to find out and make them myself. My mother never cooked and half the time I was never around with dad to find out if he did. I often cooked and taught myself through trial and error; to have someone else cooking for me for once was actually a heart warming feeling. It was a really nice feeling.

"Casey! Come join us, the cookies are almost done!" As Casey led me inside the house, I saw a woman in the kitchen with long, curly white hair. She wore a bright red apron over her white jeans and yellow strapped top. Next to her was a little girl no older then eight with short brown hair in millions of ringlets and a blue sundress that covered her petite body.

"Momma! Casey brought home a girlfriend to eat cookies with us!" The little girl laughed as she pointed at us and her brother blushed and scowled at her.

"Shut it Ceci! I just met her!" Casey snapped at the small girl. She merely laughed at his face and ate a cookie that was left on the table.

"Cecilia, be nice," came the calm voice of the mother who looked up in our direction from where she was at the stove. She noticed me in the next moment and gave me a heart warming smile. "Hello! You must be one of our new neighbors! I'm Eliza Birch, and it seems you've already met my children."

"Yeah," I rubbed the back of my head nervously. Sure I'd met a few people in the past, but never were they this nice to me. "I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain."

"Oh what a lovely name!" Eliza smiled and hurried over to Casey and I. "Come, come! Have as many cookies as you'd like! Tell us a bit about yourself Hon!"

"Uh…" I took one of the cookies the woman offered to me and sat down at her isle with Casey and his little sister on either side of me. "I just moved here, I just turned thirteen…"

"Ah, that age." Eliza sighed and leaned on the isle and her face leveled itself with mine. "Are you planning on being a trainer then? A pokemon trainer?"

"Sorta, my parents are taking all the fun out of it though by making me take on of my dad's pokemon that's already been trained by him so I'll be 'safe'." I quoted the words with my voice and fingers to get my point across. "It makes me almost not want to go anymore."

"Oh well that's no fun!" Cecilia snapped and crossed her arms. "It's stupid!"

"Cecilia!" Her mother snapped and the girl went quiet, but she still pouted. Eliza looked over at me. "My apologies Jezebel, but it does sound like your parents are a bit unwilling to allow you to begin your journey with your own newly made friends." She sighed and turned to face her sink for a moment before it appeared she had an idea when she gasped. She turned back in a rush and looked at her son.

"Oh I know! Why not have your father give her one of those pokemon he has on him!" Eliza grinned. "Oh I bet he wouldn't mind at all, after all, he'd given you one to look after and research as it grows, why not give one to Jezebel and have her help out too?"

"I can ask him at least," Casey said unsure-like.

"I'll go with you, I really don't feel like going home just yet," I jumped off my seat and grabbed a few extra cookies to take with me. "Thanks for the cookies Mrs. Birch!"

"Call me Eliza!" She snapped playful at me. "And if my husband says no, tell him there's no dinner tonight for him!"

I saw Casey sweat drop nervously. "Shall do Mom. Come on Jezebel." Still munching on the cookies I grabbed, I followed after the white haired boy.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Casey led me a short ways outside the edge of town, leading onto route one-oh-one. As soon as we got out there, we suddenly heard screaming and howling. Casey and I both looked at each other before we hurried out into the clearing where we saw a larger man with short brown hair in white lab coat, dark blue shirt, brown shorts and flip flops running away from a young poochyena that seemed to be quiet mad.

"Dad!" Casey yelled. The professor looked back over to us with fear in his eyes before he leapt up into a tree and out of the poochyena's reach. It still tried to nip at him and scratched at the tree and wouldn't leave.

"Hi Casey!" The man called nervously. "Do me a favor and HELP ME!"

"Hang on!" Casey looked over at me worriedly. "Jez, help me find my dad's brief case, inside it is his pokemon that can help us."

"I got it!" I stuffed the few remaining cookies that Eliza had given me in my mouth and I quickly looked around the field for any suitcases like Casey had described.

The field was nothing more then bare however. How was a girl to find a suitcase in the middle of a vacant field? There was no indication to where it could have been, no spot that looked anything like a bag…

I heard the howl of the dog like pokemon and turned to look over where the professor was clinging for help in the tree. Only a few feet from the dog, in our direction, was the case. It was thrown on the ground from the way the grass was ripped and bent below it. The professor must have accidentally dropped it while he was running from that little monster that thinks it owns the woods. How pathetic…

_Oh well, now comes the idiotic part where I end up hurting myself just to find some enjoyment in life. _The question of how to get the case away from the pokemon now would be the problem. I doubt I could sneak up on it and slip the case away, while it did have _most_ of its attention of the professor, that didn't mean _all_ of its attention was on him. But then again, what if I stole all of its attention? I could never out run it, but even it would have to slow down or even stop to turn around completely.

_Well, I guess I'm gonna be a huge idiot today, but I'd rather be that then numb…_

"Hey poochy!" I heard the sudden growl and the thing turned around to look at me with its dark red eyes. I waved my hands on either sides of my head which blowing it a raspberry which caused it to throw a fit of growling and its eyes glowed in anger. "Come and get me! …If you dare…"

Oh the pokemon did _not_ like that. It snarled and suddenly turned on its paws and leapt at me, racing down the field.

"Jezebel! What the _hell_ are you doing?" Casey nearly screeched at me from another corner of the field.

"Doing what you asked! Getting your dad's case!" I turned back to the enraged pokemon and pushed against the ground with my legs, letting them carry me toward the angry pokemon that wanted to pull me apart in millions of pieces. Both males watched in terror as I sped at the animal and then suddenly jumped off the ground and over its head, landing on the ground behind it and then speeding off toward the brown case lying on the ground. I quickly reached it and dived into the case, unhitching it during my landing and the three pokeballs came flying out of it. The three of them opened to revile three pokemon that looked nothing like any other pokemon I've seen in the region.

The first was a grass type, which I could easily tell from its coloration. Its grass green body was tiny, no taller then my knees at best. It looked gecko like in shape and stood up on its back two legs, both that and its hands only had three large, gumball ended like fingers and a dark green tail that was like a thick leaf folded up and rounded. It had a red underbelly and chin and golden eyes.

The second one was a water type from its blue coloring. It was even shorter then the first one, though it seemed to be a tad longer since it walked on four feet instead of two. It was a light blue in color with large rounded fins on both its head and for its tail. It had a wide mouth and large beady black eyes. It had a pale sky blue underbelly and chin along with bight orange cheeks that had three short spikes on them.

The last one was a fire type, easily noticeable by its orange and yellow-orange coloring. It looked like a baby chick in all honesty. Its feathers on its main body were a dark orange while its three feathers that stuck up on the top of its head and its tiny wings pressed into its sides were a light pale orange-yellow. Its beak and legs were yellow and its eyes were an onyx color. I thought it was the cutest out of them.

All three of them looked around curiously until their eyes landed on me, then two of them rushed off toward Casey on the other side of the field. The third, the fire type, kept its gaze locked on my own and I with it. It ruffled its orange feathers and blinked its eyes at me before it walked over to me and sniffed at me. I gently held out my hand to rub a finger up the side of its chin and it seemed to like it.

"Tor!" it cried out in pleasure.

"Hi, I'm Jezebel." I giggled at the small creature.

"Jezebel! Look out!" Casey's voice brought me back to reality and I quickly looked up tot see the dog pokemon closing in on the two of us.

"Shit…" I hissed out a few swears before I looked over at the fire type pokemon. "You wouldn't happen to know how to fight, would you?"

"Tor!" it cried out before it turned to face the small dog running at it. It cried out again and from its beak came an array of a small fire that hit the pokemon head on. The dog pokemon hissed and was pushed backward by the attack, it fur slightly singed from the attack, but it still looked raring to go for a fight.

"Whoa… anything else you can do?" I questioned the little fire chicken pokemon. The pokemon at my side nodded and ran at the opposing pokemon and started pecking the thing, especially on its head. The poochyena howled in pain but then leapt forward to bite at the little pokemon fighting for me. The little chicken like pokemon was able to jump out of the way.

"Torchic tor!" It blasted another set of fire came from its mouth and hit the small dog pokemon. This time it seemed to be stronger and the poochyena squealed in pain before it ran off into the forest with its tail between its legs. I laughed as it ran and so did the little fire pokemon before me.

"Wow! That was pretty cool!" I quieted my laughter and looked to the small pokemon at me feet before I lowered myself on my legs to be at closer eye level with it. "So as I was saying earlier, I'm Jezebel, what's your name?"

"Tor torchic!" The little pokemon bounced on its taloned legs before it leapt into my arms and nuzzled its face into my stomach. "Torchic!"

"So your name's Torchic eh? I thought you'd be called 'Blaze' or something like that since you were all fiery and powerful out there."

"Tor!"

I blinked at it. "Well I'm honored you like it, if you want it its all yours!"

"Torchic!" Blaze escaped my gentle grip on it and leapt up and down in my arms once more before settling down again.

"Are you two alright?" I looked up to the professor and Casey hurrying over with the two other pokemon that had abandoned me. One of them, the water type, clung to the side of Casey's leg while the grass type just snorted and turned its head away before climbing up on the professor's shoulder.

I raised my body off the ground and looked over at the four of them. "We're fine professor; Blaze and I were just getting acquainted."

"Blaze?" The professor looked over to the torchic in my arms and stared for a moment before he laughed. Blaze puffed out its cheeks before he blasted the professor with fire and the professor yelled out in surprise while he tried to put out the fire and the grass type had fled from his shoulder to the ground.

"Blaze!" I scolded the pokemon and it sheepishly looked away me.

"Don't worry, its not the first time he's done that." The professor was being gently cooled off with a water gun attack from the water pokemon.

"He?"

"Yes, Blaze, the torchic in your arms, is a he." The professor got back up to his feet and held out his hand. "I'm sure you already know this, but I'm Professor Richard Birch. I travel all over this region to study pokemon of all types and different natures to understand how different they all are. Your torchic is one of those pokemon I looked after."

"Wait, Blaze is mine?" I blinked at him and even Blaze was stunned for words.

"Of course, it's not my choice as to who gets the pokemon, but it's the pokemon's choice to who _they_ wanted to go with on a journey." He glanced at his son before he looked back over at me. "My son informed me of your… situation as the poochyena ran off, and I see no reason why you can't take Blaze with you, you two have already made a connection that even took my son a longer while to be connected to his mudkip." I looked over at the two of them and saw the small water pokemon in Casey's arms. It only sighed and relaxed itself into Casey's arms before falling instantly to sleep.

"So Blaze is my pokemon and I'm his human?" I questioned the man once more just to clarify.

The professor snorted a laugh. "Yes, in a manner of speaking, that's exactly right." I grinned and hugged Blaze close to my chest as I pocketed his pokeball.

"Thanks Professor."

"I expect great things to happen with a pair such as you two." The professor pointed at us a bit before he looked over at his watched and gasped in pure fear. "Oh no! If we don't get back in a few minutes your mother's going to kill me!" Without another word said, the man bolted off toward the town that we'd just come from. There was a cloud of dirt and dust that flew up from the speed at which he ran at.

Casey shook his head. "It amazes me that I'm related to him, none of us act like he does."

"Who knows? Maybe it may come with the next generation?" I handed over the other two pokeballs to Casey and his father's bag. "Well, thanks for the pokemon and I better get back before my mother gets really worried and sends out the police to find me."

"Yeah, and I better get back too before my dad realizes that he forgot his stuff." He waved as he hurried off back to town, following the trail left by his father. "See you later Jez!"

"Bye Casey!" I waved to him as he disappeared on the path before I looked back down at Blaze. "Come on; let's go introduce you to my mother."

"Tor!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I'd been talking and telling Blaze everything about my life on the way home and how excited I was now that we'd be traveling partners on the road. Blaze told me about the few friends he made and how excited it was for him to finally leave the lab. He'd never been out of there much before except when the professor took them out for tests and some fun.

It was all fun and great until we arrived up back at my house. As I looked up the large tree to the back that led up to the room my mother had given me, I sighed as I unconsciously feared for my heart that may end up broken again after such a wonderful day for once in my life. Blaze looked up at me in worry and I heard his worried whining. I gave him a soft smile before I set him part of the way down my shirt and in my bra to hold him while I climbed up. Blaze nearly gripped into my chest while holding on in fear of falling, but I made sure to go a little slower then normal so he wouldn't be as afraid.

I got up to the roof and opened my window before I quietly slipped back in. I could hear my mother from the first floor, she sounded like she was on the phone, so I had to assume it was either my uncle or father talking with her. I quietly opened the door and looked down to the first floor and I suddenly heard the volumes increase ten fold, she was arguing, it had to be my father on the line with her.

"_What do you mean the pokemon we chose for her to take won't go? Slaking was perfect to protect her!"_ I froze at the sound of my mother's shrilling voice from down below at the flaw in her apparent perfect plan for me as a trainer. I quietly got up and hurried into her bedroom with Blaze quietly walking behind me and cuddling into my leg, trying to comfort me. I picked up the other phone that we had in there and pressed the "talk" button and listened into the conversation.

"_-bout it Brit, she just won't go, she thinks it won't help Jez grow into a woman unless she takes the journey on her own."_ I could hear my father's voice on the other end of the line as he tried to calm my mother down while he explained. _"I have another pokemon-"_

"_No! The only one who should go with her is that powerful stupid ape of yours that actually could protect her! I can't believe that all I've done for that oaf and she refuses!"_

"_Don't talk about my pokemon that way Brittany! She's only doing what she thinks is right for Jezebel!"_

"_If she cares about her at all then she'll go with her to keep her safe!"_

"_She isn't the only trainer out there that starts out at this age Brittany! Giving her a pokemon that's already been trained by a gym leader or someone else will take all the fun out of her journey! __**You **__taught her that, if I remember correctly."_

"_Don't turn this on me Norman! You haven't exactly been there and looking after her all these years!"_

"_Of course not! You keep taking her away any time I get too close to her for you taste! In other words, I can't spend any time with her since __**you**__ won't let me!"_

I hit the button on the phone just as my mother's voice escalated in volume to cut off the rest of the conversation I was hearing. Against my own will, my body was responding to the events that took place, their arguments always made me cry. My body shook before it started to heave in and out breaths. Blaze worriedly chirped down by my feet as I slid to the floor and began to sob.

"Stop it!" My hyperventilating shout only reached the volume of a whisper. "Stop it! Please!"

I was so tired of it, all the fighting, all the pain I felt from every fight, and every issue that came up and tore our family apart even more. It hurt just to be here; no place I traveled to felt like home now, since I have no family and friends to love together. Everything was always torn, in pieces, broken…

I felt all those painful emotions swelling inside me just like they always had. They kept raging and raging… until they turned into entirely to rage. The tears in my eyes suddenly felt like fire from my internal fury and I pushed myself off the floor and threw my mother's phone on her bed before I headed to my room and grabbed a set of scissors in there.

With them in hand I stepped before my mirror and looked at my long, soft brown hair that I normally pushed to the sides of my face. I pulled it to the front so my hair, that had _never_ been cut, was before my eyes and I took the scissors and chopped away at it. It was cut uneven and just above my eyes that gave me a set of rugged bangs. I then grabbed at the hair on the sides of my head and with some rubber elastics I'd grabbed, I painfully tied them up and out of the way while I yanked at the hair on the back of my head and began to cut away what was behind there. In fury I cut my long hair to a hair style that my family would never recognized.

When I was done, my hair was now cut so that I now had bangs, but they were shaggy and long, but it was a hair style that my parents wouldn't recognize. The hair on the sides of my head I'd cut shorter so it went a slight bit past my shoulders and was long unevenly cut that shaggily framed my red face until just a short bit past my ears, past that long bit, I cut all my hair short into the back. It was all rough and most of my old hair was in a pile on the floor at my feet. As I looked at myself and I gasped at how different I looked with the only thing I recognized was my emerald green eyes and the shape of my face, but with my hair cut so differently, even that was masked with a new look.

I took a deep breath when I was done before I dropped the scissors and hurried to grab my small dark green back pack off to the side of my room. I dumped all the things my mother had given me out of it and put inside some womanly products and a change of clothes for the night, and all the money I had on hand. I grabbed my hat like bandanna that was colored an emerald green and had some white bits on it and threw it over my head to hide my hair for the most part. Without regarding that my newly befriended pokemon Blaze was a male, I threw off my old clothing that my mother or father had bought for me and grabbed the trainer outfit that I'd bought myself on my own and put that on. The shirt I had was red and sleeveless, it had white pokeballs over the pockets at the bottom of it on my waist and the shirt came up around to the base of my neck with a thin, black collar. The shirt came well down below my waist; it came below my hips and almost over my ass. I buttoned up the shirt from the inside, since that's the way it was designed, before I slid on my shorts that were a green black color and only covered the upper half of my legs. I slipped on my sneakers and my black, edged red, fingerless gloves before I threw my back pack over my shoulder and grabbed Blaze.

"We're getting out of here Blaze, I can't stay here anymore!" I opened the window and threw out my pack, no longer caring who saw me before I stepped outside and leapt from the roof.

**Casey's Point of View:**

My family and I were just getting ready for dinner when I decided to take a quick moment to rest after running around the house to catch Treecko, the grass pokemon of the two that were left of my father's pokemon. I unconsciously looked to Jezebel's house and looked at her window that I'd watched her jump out of skillfully this morning. It amazed me with how strong she was with the crappy life she had, I would never imagine a life like she had…

I suddenly was shaken from my thoughts when I saw something flash before my vision. I blinked and looked more carefully out the window into the darkening area. It was a green backpack that landed at the base of the tree Jezebel had used to jump off her roof this morning. I looked up to her window and saw it was open and she was gathering Blaze into her arms.

My eyes widened and I turned back to my mother in the kitchen with my family. "Mom! Dad! Jez's is gonna run away!" I jumped from my seat and jumped to the door, hurrying outside just as she jumped out her window. She reached for her bag just as I reached her and she looked up at me. My eyes budged as I looked at her chopped up hair, puffy eyes and red face.

"Jez?" The said girl dropped her backpack and set down her fire pokemon before she coughed out a sob and threw herself into my arms. I held her there as she cried into my shoulder. She held onto me in a death grip as if I'd let her fall onto the ground.

"Jezebel!" I turned and looked behind my head and looked back to see my family rushing out to see what was going on. My mother was at the head of that pack who quickly and gently lifted Jezebel's face from my shoulder. I felt Jez pull her head from my mother's hold and place it back in my shoulder.

"Oh you poor thing… and you cut your hair too…" My mother gently brushed her fingers in my friend's chopped up hair, trying to help calm her down. "Why don't you come inside and we'll get you cleaned up, I'll touch up your hair and we'll get you something to eat, does that sound okay?"

I felt the girl shake in my arms. "I can't stay here anymore…! I can't stay with _her_…!"

_Her parents must have had another fight._ I sighed and I walked backward, gently pulling her body with me. She hiccupped and looked up at me in fear. "I'm just taking you to our house Jez. We'll get you cleaned up and then we'll head over to Oldale Town, okay? I'll take you away from here."

She took a moment to think about it before she finally nodded and she released her tight old on me, but refused to let go of my hand. I let her have it and led her inside while my mother told my sister to help my father finish fixing up dinner for the five of us and then for him to get the things meant for Jez and me.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After an hour or so at the house, we were finally all ready to go. Jez had been sat down in the bathroom so my mom could fix her hair to at least it wasn't so jagged. She actually looked pretty cute now with a different hair style then her hair she had this morning, and I think she liked it too.

Her hair on the back of her head was shortened and smoothed out and her bangs were fixed to where they were angled, a small amount of them were angled bit to the right, but most or all of them were angled to the left. Her hair was framed in layers at the front of her face and the long bits of hair she still had were smoothed out and cut evenly. Now with her bandanna hat on her head, it pulled her hair slightly out to the sides of her head and lifted it up off her shoulders, leaving it at an angle. She'd calmed down now to the point where we could have conversations with her and she wasn't about to run out our door, but she still wanted to get out of here as fast as humanly possible.

She now had her belly full (as did Blaze as well who sadly just got dragged into the middle of all of this) and now we were ready to head out. I planned to take my bike since it made the journey a little faster, and I was sure that Jez really wanted to get away from here. We returned our two pokemon to their pokeballs and put them in our pockets before I got on the bike and Jez stood herself up on the back, helping herself to hold on by holding onto me.

My dad had placed the items I was supposed to give to Jez in my bag and I would handle that tomorrow once she felt even better with some distance between her and her mother. With a wave to my parents and sister, Jez and I took off toward the next town in the early evening, hopefully where we'll have no problems to deal with.

**Witch's Note:**

**Okay, here we go another time! I'm sure you all know this, but hello once again to you all! My name is Halloween Witch and what you just read is the third installment of my series, "Pokѐmon****Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage"! As I'm sure all of you know by now, I have a little passion for the Pokѐmon games that I've turned into this five story series. Though a fair warning to those who have yet to read my first story, "Pokѐmon Journey I: Violet's Trial", or my second story "Pokѐmon Journey II: Gwyn's Passage", I'd go back and read them because this story will carry over information from the first and second story that you don't know anything about it and you will be lost and confused.**

**I'm not sure if you picked up on this or not, but for once, we have a male starter pokemon for our team, Blaze the torchic. I thought I'd mix it up a bit with this new story, so we may have a few more male personalities then we will females like before. **

**Now was anyone surprised that I decided to make such a drastic change from my normal characters that usually have a good life and only a few problems rather then a few large ones that Jezebel has to deal with every day? I was too to be honest, when I first started the outline for the story, I didn't plan anything like this, but then I had a few days where I couldn't produce much work and my wheels got turning into my head, I thought it was time for a character that had an awful life, and thus, Jezabel and her large family that never get along was born!**

**As I'm sure you all can tell, this game is based off of the Emerald version of Pokemon, I find that the final plot of all of it and all the little extra features were just great. To be honest, I will admit that this is my favorite season of pokemon and one of my favorite regions, with Kanto and Jhoto falling together in second, Unova in third, and Shinoh** **in forth, but that's just my ranking of the games in my personal opinion. **

**So here we have a drastic change from the normal characters we see that normally end up as a serious one (Alex and Tristan), a goofy one (Vincent and Aaron) and finally the take action and heroine of the stories (Violet and Gwyn). This time, while we'll still have our heroine of the story, Jezebel, she's got a **_**huge**_** family problem that she'll have to deal with throughout the story as well as deal with stopping the bad guys in the story (which will get much more dramatic later, you'll see what I'm talking about later on.) We also have what you would thick would be a serious character, Casey, the son of Professor Birch and his assistant in traveling over the region to study pokemon. We've yet to meet a third character yet, but I assure you, we will soon (and I hope you can guess who that is, if not, then we'll get there when we get there.)**

**I hope you all remember my favorite pass time of getting questions from you for my Q's &amp; A's page (questions and answers) where you ask me and the characters about things that you want answers to. Now remember, don't be afraid to send any in! We all love questions here and we're excited to see you guys send them in! If you still have no idea what I'm talking about, look at my first story "Violet's Trial" or my second one "Gwyn's Passage" on the very last chapter or some of my older stories last chapter for examples.**

**Okay, I've talked off your ears enough and I bet you guys just want another chapter, so I'll get to work and get it up by next week! I love you all and hope to see you soon! Don't forget to Review and send in Questions!**

_**Halloween Witch**__**alloween Witch**_


	2. Introduction to the Mainland

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 2: Introduction to the Mainland_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I shook myself out of a daze when I finally felt myself come to from my night sleep. I stretched my arms and cracked my neck, back, fingers and toes before I got up from the bed and moved around. I suddenly stopped myself.

_Where the fuck am I?_

This didn't look like my new room, I could tell from looking out the window that we weren't in Littleroot Town anymore. My new room was gone and I was in that of what seemed to be a stationary pokemon center room for trainers.

"Morning Jez." I whipped my head around to see a young boy around my age with white hair and red eyes walk up to me. I faltered and stepped back from him when he tried to approach me. "Jez? Are you okay?"

"Tor!" I turned my head to the side and saw a small bird like pokemon that was red and orange in color that reminded me of a small chick.

"…Blaze?" It all started to flood back to me all in that instant. I ran away from home, I had Blaze, my first pokemon. And next to me was my first best friend, Casey Birch. "Casey?"

"Phew! I thought you'd forgotten for a minute there!" A smile soon appeared on his face and he grinned. "I brought you some breakfast since I thought you'd like a moment to take in that you're out of your mom's house."

"That's right…" I remembered it all then, the haze of my sleep fading away and all the memories coming back head on. My parents were fighting again and I'd finally lost it, cutting my hair, running away from home… all these painful memories made my head spin. I held up a hand to my forehead and Casey rushed over to keep me up, but when he saw I was having a hard time, he hurried me back onto the bed and set me down.

"Take it easy there Jez, we have time, and we'll get going soon too."

"Going?" I lifted my head up to look at him.

"Yeah, I thought it would be good to get further away from Littleroot for you and I thought that Petalburg would be a great place to start."

"I think that would be good. Visiting my dad would be nice…"

"Wait. You're dad lives in Petalburg?" Casey flinched and nearly jumped up into the air.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "He runs the Petalburg City gym, his name is Norman Twain. I haven't seen him for a while though since my mom took us out all the way to Fortree after their last argument." I sighed while Casey seemed to be even more on edge. I gave him a look. "What?"

"You're a gym leader's kid?"

"And you're a researcher's kid. What's the big deal?"

"Oh 'what's the big deal,' she says. What's the big deal? Your father could send the entire region of police after the two of us to find you, that's what!"

"Dad won't do that, besides, we'll get there before he has the chance to. I need to visit him anyway. I've been meaning to for a long time now." I looked over to the food that Casey had brought up for me. "Hey, can I eat?"

"Be my guest," Casey grunted and fell back against the bed with a sigh. I rolled my eyes and called poor Blaze over who didn't know what to do. I held out a bowl of food for him to have and he nervously made his way over to me.

"I'm sorry about all of this Blaze; I'll make this up to you somehow. I promise." The little chick seemed to blow it over his shoulder and began to eat his food before he plopped himself into my lap.

"Tor! Tor torchic tor!" He chirped up at me in a happy manor.

"Really?" I felt touched at my little pokemon's words. "You don't mind it so long as I'm happy?"

"Torchi tor tor!" he replied. "Tor tor torchic chic tor!"

"Oh thank you Blaze…" I couldn't help but tear up at my pokemon's words. Never had someone said something so nice to me. No one's ever said that they'd be there for me, no matter what happens.

"Not to interrupt, but we do need to get on the road soon." Casey sat up and was quick to grab his pack. "Finish up and clean up quickly before some police come after us and we can hopefully get to your dad's place before anything bad happens. I have to give you a few things from my dad anyway and let you know about a couple things."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later Casey had herded us onto the road and out of Oldale Town before eight o'clock in the morning. We headed out on route one-hundred and two to take the short path over to Petalburg City to see my father and try to get him to at least let me go on this journey without one of his pokemon.

Blaze was happily walking beside me, chirping as we walked, but when he would get tired because of his short legs, he asked to be carried. I couldn't refuse his cute face and did so, so he'd ruffle his feathers in my arms before settling down and letting me walk. He would smile a lot up at me, which would make me smile back. It was a nice feeling to be able to smile instead of scowl all the time.

Casey on the other had looked almost pale to the bone as he walked with Mudkip on his shoulder. He was so petrified of my father and the police that he was practically withering with every step we took to get closer to Petalburg. He'd yet to also tell me what his father wanted to ask of us as well as give me whatever his father wanted to give me as well.

"Hey Casey?" The boy looked up at me with his worried face. "What exactly was it that your father wanted to give me?"

"Oh, that's right!" Casey suddenly got over his fit about my father for the moment and pulled his bag out before him and stopped in the middle of the road. I stopped as well and set Blaze down as Casey pulled out a small emerald green device that, when you pressed a button on the side of it as he demonstrated, opened to show a screen and a few buttons below that. "This is a pokedex, which my dad wanted to give you today after you got Blaze. It's a device he and other researchers from around the world have created and give to certain trainers who have shown a knack for pokemon, or just someone they feel they can trust with the task of finding all the pokemon there are in this region and the world." He pulled his own ruby red pokedex from his pokemon. "My dad gave me one too and was hoping, now that your out on your own and away from your mother, that you might help him with his dream of finding all the pokemon in the world, while you work on your own dream of course."

"I don't mind. So this thing tells you information about pokemon?"

"Yeah, just point it at Blaze and see what it tells you."

I did just as he said and soon a picture of my little pokemon showed up on my pokedex. _Torchic, the chick pokemon. It has a flame sac inside its belly that perpetually burns. It feels warm if it is hugged. If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings. There are no known torchic nests in this region. _

"Whoa…"

"Yeah, now try Mudkip." I nodded and pointed the device to the small blue pokemon that lazily lay on Casey's shoulder. _Mudkip, the mud fish pokemon. Its large tail fin propels it through water with powerful acceleration. It is strong in spite of its size. On land, it can powerfully lift large boulders by planting its four feet and heaving. It sleeps by burying itself in soil at the water's edge. There are no known mudkip nests in this region. _

"Interesting…"

"Yeah, and if you're lucky sometimes, you can see pokemon that are shiny!"

"Shiny? You mean like pokemon that have different colors then others?"

"Exactly! They look so cool and have slightly better stats then their regular colored siblings do! But they're extremely rare, only about one for every eight-thousand pokemon! But they've been starting to show up recently."

"They have? Where?"

"Some trainers from other regions that have become champions have shiny pokemon. I think it's a charizard and a gyardos that belong to Champion Violet Vilmos and Champion Gwyn Jalen from the Kanto and Jhoto regions to the far north."

"Oh wow…" Shinys did sound cool and everything, I had met a couple in the past when I'd run from my mother. Now that I think about it, I think one of them, a friend I made a long time ago, was on this route!

"Hey Casey, how far in the route are we?" The boy gave me a questioning look before he pulled out his map and showed it to me.

"We're about halfway through the route now, why?"

I stepped forward and looked around; I knew this spot very well. "If I'm right about this, then you're welcome, but if I'm not, I'm sorry." I turned to look all around before I took in a deep breathe to yell out as far as I possibly could. "SILKY!"

"Holy crap girl! Do you have an exploud's lungs or what?" Casey covered his ears as he cowered at my yelling.

"Wurm!" I whipped my head around to the sound and suddenly a lightly purple worm like pokemon lowered itself on a thick string line down before my face. "Wurmple wurm!"

"Silky!" With the largest grin I think I'd had in a while, I rushed over to the small bug pokemon and hugged her. She cut the string on her line and inched her way all over me, smelling me and looking at me from all angles until she settled on my emerald colored eyes before deciding that I was her real friend that she'd known for many years and cuddled into my shoulder.

"Wurm!" As the bug type and I got along and reacquainted, Casey's mouth was agape as he looked at the shiny colored pokemon in my arms.

"No way… a shiny wurmple?"

I peeled my eyes away from my good old friend and turned to Casey. "Yeah, I met Silky when I was about six years old. It was about the first time I'd actually ran away from home to explore and get away from all the fighting in my family…

**Jezebel's Memory:**

_My mother and father had been fighting again back in our home at Petalburg. When I couldn't take the fighting anymore, I slipped past my parents and hurried outside, and before I knew it, I ended up on route one-oh-two. While I traveled along the path, I saw many pokemon all around that seemed to take an interest in a human girl walking about all on her own. _

_Out of all the pokemon on that heavily dense route of trees and a pond or two, a single bug pokemon hung in the tree that was purple in color and resembled that of a worm with an off-white snout and underbelly with pearl white stubby legs and large, beady yellow eyes with black pupils and thick yellow stingers on the end of its tail (two of them) and just above its snout and below its eyes. _

_The pokemon dropped itself onto my body and crawled around it a few many times before it settled itself down in my arms and smiled up at me, waving its tiny legs. "Wurmple!"_

"_Hi! I'm Jezebel! But you can call me Jez if you like! Hey! Can I call you Silky?"_

_The little pokemon and I took a liking to each other very quickly and it wasn't long before the entire day passed before my eyes as I spent it with my new friend, Silky. _

"_Jezebel!" I turned my heard around with Silky in my arms to see my frantic mother running through the woods. Once she saw me, her face was happy all for a moment before she saw the pokemon in my arms and her face quickly turned to that of a fury. "Jezebel, what are you doing out here, and why are you with such a repulsive pokemon?"_

"_Momma! Silky isn't bad or ugly! Silky's pretty and soft and nice!" I held onto Silky and shielded her body from my mother, but it was no use. The woman used her twenty-nine years over my six to twist my body around and fling her arm down on the bug pokemon before she was chucked out of my hands. "SILKY!"_

"_Jezebel! That's enough! We're going home and we're moving far away from here!" My mother dragged me away from the fallen bug type, but I continued to call out for her as I was taken away. She looked over at me sadly with the tears flowing down my eyes, and a stray one fell from her own. _

**Present (Still Jezebel's Point of View):**

"So ever since then, I've tried to sneak out here when I got the chance to find Silky again and be with her after what my mother did. I made sure to hide my other pokemon that I made friends with so that my mother couldn't hurt them, but she did find out about another one or two." I snorted angrily. "I always hated that about her."

"Not to be rude Jez, but I think there's seriously something wrong with your mother." Casey finally mentioned the one thing that was never confirmed between family members because no one dared to admit it. He hit the nail on the head.

"And I believe you, but no one's brave enough to go against my mother except my father, and he _still_ doesn't like to argue with her since they're married and he wants to make good of their marriage." I shook my head and then turned my eyes back to the bug in my arms. "But now that I've run away, I can take you with me now Silky! Does that sound good to you?"

"Wurmple wurm!" She crawled onto my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek after she had nodded to me.

"Oh, that's another thing I forgot to give you!" Casey dug around in his bag and pulled out some differently colored pokeballs and handed me one of each different type. "My dad wanted to make sure you have plenty of pokeballs for your journey and for the different types of pokemon you may encounter, so he had me pack from an assortment of his that he had. If I may make a suggestion-" He walked over and pointed at the white pokeball with the purple line in the middle where it opened and around the button to open it. "That's a primer ball, a pokeball that normally is used for certain events, and what better even is there then you capturing your first wild pokemon that you've known for most of your life and is you're best friend?"

I snorted a laugh and gave him a smile. "Works for me!" I put the rest of the balls into my backpack and held out the one for Silky. "What do you think girl? Does this one look nice?"

"Wurm!" In less than a second she tapped her nose on the pokeball and was sucked inside a red beam of light. Only a shake later did the ball settle and I happily had my best friend back in the safety of my arms, and my mother couldn't take that away from me anymore.

"Damn… you already got your first wild pokemon…" Casey sighed. "Oh well, I'll get mine soon enough."

"I'm sure you will Casey." I quickly released Silky from her pokeball and while she got situated back on my shoulder, I grabbed my pokedex and pointed it at her. "I should really get your information before I forget."

_Wurmple, the worm pokemon. It lives amidst tall grass and in forests. When attacked, it resists by pointing its venomous spikes at the foe. It sticks to tree branches and eats leaves. The thread it spits from its mouth, which becomes gooey when it touches air, slows the movement of its foes. Wurmple nests are very common and tend to be seen highly on routes one-oh-one, one-oh-two, one-oh-four and the Petalburg Woods. Please wait… updating shiny information to device…_

"Sounds like you're a really cool pokemon Silky!" I grinned at the wurmple that sat on my shoulders and she cried out happily. "Think you and Blaze will be good friends?"

"Tor!" Blaze jumped up and down on the ground and Silky smiled down at him before jumping out of my arms and landing before him. The two of them sniffed each other before they smiled and nodded to each and grinned.

"Tor! Torchic tor!"

"Wurmple wurm!"

"Great!" I picked Silky up and placed her back up onto my shoulder and then picked up Blaze into my arms after taking care of my pokedex and all other items. I turned to Casey. "We should probably finish making our way over to Petalburg before it gets much later. If I'm gone for over twenty-four hours, we really will be in trouble."

"Don't remind me…" Casey suddenly sulked and cried to himself again and she slowly trudged behind me. I couldn't care less at this moment. I had one of my old friends now on my team and this journey was starting to pick up its pace from being boring to being something memorable.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A few hours later and we had made it to the outskirts of Petalburg. Due to the spring still being the season and summer still coming, the longest days haven't come yet and sunset was at an earlier hour of about six-fifty right now. The city was a small one, a cross between a forest with a city build throughout it. The largest building here was actually my home, Petalburg Gym.

It was a fairly large place, most of the space actually being for the gym where trainers would battle my father and then the area above and to the side was our home. A small house connected to the gym that was white in color on the outside and I saw the many berry trees that seemed to be just about ready to pick, but the lawn was a bit overgrown, the garden that I used to plant flowers in was dead and bare, my mother hadn't brought me back so I could replant it yet. I still had time to do something before I left.

Sighing, I led Casey around to where my house was and led him into the back. It was unlocked like it always was for Dad's good friends and the rest of our family that came over from time to time. Pushing it open I led myself into a brightly colored maroon-red kitchen with white accented wooden cabinets and a white countertop to set it off that flowed to a teal colored living room with more white accents and dark furniture of black to go with the television that my father was then watching at the moment.

He was sitting there with Slacking and the rest of his pokemon team of a linoone and spinda. They contently watched the television with my father who had a pained and worried look set upon his features and in his darkly colored black eyes, which almost made him older then he really was at thirty-eight. My father had thick bluish-black hair that covered all of his head with the exception of a small bit on his forehead that was smoothed down a bit to give it some character and cover part of his exposed forehead. My father's face was narrow and his skin was the same shade as mine. He was still wearing his normal outfit that he liked to use when he battled trainers, probably since he just close the gym and hadn't had time to change yet. His thin red jacket was still over the top half of his body, while the favorite pair of _very_ worn jeans, from a present I gave him when I was little, were still on the lower half. His shoes were gone which left him in his sock feet.

I watched my father sigh as he watched the TV with little interest. He was watching it until he heard the phone ring and he was slow to pick it up, probably dreading that it was my mother.

"Hello?" He called out to the phone with a sigh. His expression soon turned different from the worried yelling that was on the other side of the phone.

"What? What do you mean she's gone Brittney?"

A moment of pause graced the room as his pokemon then looked away from the screen to watch my father in concern. "Well why did you wait so long to call me? Jezebel could be anywhere by now! You should have called me sooner so I could alert the other gym leaders and the police!"

_Mother hadn't told him until now? Did she expect to find me on her own?_ My eyes widened as I listened to the conversation that was starting to become a heated argument over my safety and my mother's absentmindedness. _Of course she would, that way she wouldn't have to ask Dad for help. _

"Ugg! I can't believe you! I'm calling on a search for her and trust me, if another incident like this happens Brittney that endangers _my_ daughter's life, you can kiss everything you have with her good-bye when I call the lawyers and have her stay with me because I am tired of walking on a damn set of eggshells just to satisfy you!" My father then hurled the phone at the wall and it smashed into pieces while his pokemon looked at him worriedly. "I can't believe that woman! After all I've done for her and after all that I've let her do she still ends up losing our only child!" He threw himself onto his couch and his pokemon rushed to get out of his way. "Why couldn't she just let Jezebel grow up in a steady environment with me? Am I really that bad of a father?"

I stepped out of the darkness of the kitchen and into the vague light of the TV screen. "I don't think you're a bad father Dad." His head shot up like a rocket to look at me. "But then again, I never really got to spend a lot of time with you since Mother would drag me away to all corners of Hoenn except here."

"Jezebel?" His eyes widened when he saw how different I looked. "Your hair… you look…"

I unconsciously stepped back a bit into Casey and twiddled my fingers under Blaze's soft feathers. "Sorry about the rough and drastic change. I heard the last argument you and Mother had on the phone and I kinda… snapped." I gently felt my hair and Silky cuddled her face into my neck to comfort me. "I didn't want anyone to recognize me, I bought all these clothes myself and my hair is so different now, I don't even think Mother would recognize me."

"…You look _amazing_!" My father gushed over me and rushed over to grab me into his arms. "You look so independent and unique… and I'm just so happy you're _okay_."

"I'm sorry if I worried you Dad, but I had to leave, I wasn't about to stay with Mother any longer. I couldn't stand all the constant moving and all that she'd put me through."

"And I'm glad you finally did something about it." He gave me a cheeky grin. "I won't tell your mother you were here until your well on your way to another town or so. Since you're legally a pokemon trainer, now being the age of thirteen, you can legally travel, and you're not missing, so the law can't do much to stop you, and neither can your mother."

"Awesome!" I grinned back at him. "You don't mind then if my friend and pokemon and I stay the night then? We'll head out either sometime tomorrow or the day after, depending on what happens. And I _need_ to replant my flower garden; I refuse to let that go."

My father laughed and slapped me on the back shoulder. "Do whatever you want Jez, so long as you just keep a few tabs with me here or there." My father hugged me again before he pulled away and led us back out into the kitchen. "Now how about a home made dinner? I'm sure you're hungry and it gives me an excuse to cook again!"

"I've always wondered if you could cook. Mother always orders microwaveable food or take out. A home cooked meal sounds _divine_." I paused for a moment as I remembered something and called my father's attention. "Also Dad, do you think you could help me get my trainer license tomorrow morning? I don't have one yet since I ran away from Mother."

"Not a problem, now why don't you introduce me to your friend and your pokemon?"

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright! Another chapter bites the dust and we're well on our way into this story already! We're starting to see more bits and pieces of Jezebel's screwed up life, any of it sound interesting to you my dear readers?**

**So now I'll go and let you look over this chapter while I get started on the next one. I'll see you all again soon and please remember to send in Reviews and Questions! You know I love to read them!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	3. Shy Little Mattie

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 3: Shy Little Mattie_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After spending the night with my father and introducing him to Casey and our pokemon, we enjoyed a home cooked meal (that for once I didn't have to make!) and we went to bed that night, only for me to get up early the next morning at dawn, due to a restless night sleep due to excitement from being away from my mother, and I planted new flowers in the garden for my father. I couldn't wait any longer to plant it and rushed to get it done for my father to see when he got up in the morning.

Blaze and Silky even came out to help me when they heard me moving about. I even had help from my good old friend Slacker, Slacking's son who didn't like to fight and tends to hide up in my room here in the house. He was a small, tan colored slackoth with long, slender arms with claws and short stubby legs. He tends to spend most of his time lounging around and tends to not like to battle, but he loves to spend time with me and any of my friends that ended to be in the area. While he doesn't like battling, Slacker does love to cling to me and sleep. That's what he did most of the time when I was fixing up the garden, but I didn't mind, I was used to it. He tended to do that a lot of the time when I was home.

_Slackoth, the sloth pokemon. It sleeps virtually all day and night long. It doesn't chance its nest its entire life, but it sometimes travels great distances by swimming in rivers. Making drowsy those that see it is one of its abilities. Slackoth nests tend to be rare, but can be found in the Petalburg Woods. _

Once I finished with the garden, I hurried back inside and changed out of the old clothes that I had here to use for the garden before I was back into my trainer outfit and cooking breakfast for my father, Casey and all our pokemon. Like my father, I could cook as well, which I assume I obtained from him through genetics. I prepared a breakfast of pancakes with the mix I found and made plenty for all before I dared to sit down and relax a bit. Slatking had a bit appetite, so I had to cook the rest of the box for her.

"Whoa!" I turned my head from the breakfast I was eating to see my father and Casey walk in with their pokemon. "What's with all this food?"

"I was up and I thought I'd make it." I shrugged my shoulders. "Take as much as you want. I made plenty." Casey was quick to dive for the table and eat to his heart's content with his pokemon. I snorted at their behavior.

"Jezebel?" I turned my head back to the doorway and quickly saw my father in it. "You mind coming over here so I can take your picture really quick so I can head over to the pokemon center and get your trainer card made up?"

"Sure Dad, but don't you want breakfast first?" I gestured over to the large pile of food on the table and counter and his jaw dropped.

"In this case, I think I will." He was over at the table with his other pokemon in less then a second; I almost couldn't see how fast they all moved. He began stuffing down as many pancakes that he could and his pokemon did more or less of the same thing. Casey began fighting with him for the food and it was then that the two boys met in eye contact before they tussled for some of the remaining pancakes, only for the remainder of the food to be eaten by Silky and Blaze, who happily had them before my father and Casey noticed.

"Aw man…" Casey sighed when the pancakes were gone. "And they were so good…"

"Don't worry Casey; I'll make them again, either tomorrow before we leave or some other time." I shook my head at him and turned back to my also sulking father. "Dad, you wanna get that picture taken care of so we don't have to worry about it later?"

"Yeah, we better. We'll go take it at the front door so I can head right out and you can keep an eye out for any early morning trainers that might want to challenge me while I'm not here." He pulled out a camera and held out his hand for me. "Coming?"

"Yeah Dad, I'm coming." I took his hand and Silky and Blaze both tagged along as he led us from the house and into the gym and to its entrance. When we got before the wall that my Dad wanted to take a picture of me, he twirled me around before he let me stand against the opposing wall. He grinned and took a serious picture of me before he hurried over to me and held out the camera before us and wanted some funny pictures of the two of us. He started to just take pictures every other second as he held me with one arm and my two pokemon jumped into the pictures a few times and what not.

When Dad was done having his fun, we looked back at the pictures and I couldn't help but laugh at a few of them. We were all over the place with our limbs and bodies and had a good time, which I never remember having before since Mother never allowed me to spend time alone with my father. She hogged me to herself or my father and never let us have much or any of a relationship.

When Dad had found one that he liked a lot, he then showed it me to use for a picture that he'd place in the house so he wouldn't be so lonely without me there. With the camera in hand, he hurried to the door and opened it at the front of the gym that I was going to guard until he got back, when we heard a yelp and a flash of green before something ran away from the door.

I blinked at that, as did my father who looked back at me. I came up to the doorway and looked outside. Nothing was out of there directly, but when I looked off to the side at the end of the entrance of the gym where it headed toward our yard, I saw a young boy, maybe just a tad younger then me. He was _extremely_ white in completion which was bright against his dark green jeans and snow white button up shirt. I saw that his hair was a pale looking light green color, which might have been due to being out of the sun and not getting enough vitamins, and his sapphire blue eyes.

"Hello?" I called over to the boy who then flinched and hid behind the wall. I hurried after him and looked around the wall to see him on the ground, his knees up to his chest and his shoulder had sunk behind a hidden face in his knees. "Can we help you?"

"Ah!" The boy was startled and fell over on his side. He looked up at me in a startled manner before he was frozen at the sight of me. "W-wh-what?"

"Are you okay?" I got down onto my knees and took his hand in my own and pulled him up off the ground. "You look like you took a bit of a tumble there."

"U-u-uh…. I-I'm ok-okay…" He muttered as he gently pulled his hand from mine. There was nothing to it at all, only bones… he looked so fragile…

"Hey kid! Jez!" My father quickly came around the corner and saw the two of us. His eyes met mine before we both drifted back to look at the boy. "Oh! You must be Matthew Ashling!" My father held his hand out for the boy. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Is he challenging you Dad?" The boy's eyes went wide as I turned back to look at my father in question before he shrank back under our gazes when we looked at him.

"No, not at all. Young Matthew here is actually a special case who wanted a pokemon to travel with him and keep him company since he doesn't have any friends and maybe become a trainer in the future. I promised him that I could loan him a pokemon so he could capture one in the area, but he also doesn't know how to capture a pokemon."

"Do you want me and Casey to go with him then? We don't mind, and it won't take a long time to find Matthew a pokemon for himself." I grinned at him. "It also gives me and Casey an excuse to train and look for more pokemon ourselves. And I can leave a note on the gym door that we'll all be back in a bit or you could take the day off, I don't remember the last time you took one off."

"You know what? You're right Jez." He laughed and pumped his fist. "I can get your trainer card and then spend the rest of my day with you guys!" He ruffled my hair. "I'll see you guys in a bit then, make sure you get a good pokemon for yourselves and Matthew!"

My father left after that, taking off down the road to the pokemon center where he could get my trainer card made up for only a few dollars. As I watched he disappeared from sight and I turned back to Matthew. "So then Matthew-"

"U-uh…" The boy stuttered out. "Y-you can ca-call me Mattie. Th-that's what my fa-family calls me…"

"Oh, okay then Mattie." I smiled at him. "Just let me get my friend Casey and we'll head out and make sure you get an awesome pokemon to take with you."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, the three of us walked along the entrance back onto route one-oh-two to find a good companion for Mattie. Casey thought that heading back out on the other route we'd just been on would have been good due to the fact that a good psychic type tended to live out here and they tended to often look after those that were their friends or trainers… or so he had heard from his father.

We found a small area just at the entrance of the route that we decided to stop and rest at. It wasn't that Casey or I were tired, but poor Mattie seemed to be a bit short of breath, not to mention that he was clinging to me the entire time as we moved out of the city. I don't know what was going on with him, but he was afraid of just down right nervous.

"So Mattie, can I ask you why you're after a pokemon companion?" I gently questioned the boy as we let him rest on a large rock near the exit should he want to go back.

"Um… I-I have a lot of heart problems, and I h-have asthma too…" he whispered to us with a down cast face. "My parents don't let me out much because I've always been a fragile child… so I wanted a friend so I wouldn't be so lonely..."

"Ouch… sounds harsh…" I could relate with him easily with this information. I was alone most of my life and had no friends or pokemon friends much until recently. It almost brought tears to my eyes as I heard this. To hear this poor boy was just as separated from the world as I had been, but all because of something inside of him rather then his family. I can run away from my family and make my own decisions, but this disease or two he has… even if he runs away; they'll follow him to the end…

"I know about being alone Mattie." I heard Casey intake a short breathe from that and I saw the small child look up at me from over my shoulder that he was hiding behind. I looked back to give a small smile with eyes that showed the pain of being alone. "My family has always been at each other's throats, hating each other. I was the odd one out who had to deal with everything and see exactly how much they hated each other. I recently ran away after Casey became my friend and Blaze became my first pokemon to start my own pokemon journey."

"…W-wow…"

"So," I whipped my body around to look directly at the boy who gasped and froze at my sudden movement. "Do you want me to be your friend Mattie?"

"…What?"

It was the first time the boy hadn't stuttered, I honestly couldn't help but giggle at that.

"I asked if you wanted me to be your friend, Mattie. Would you like that?"

"I'll be your friend too!" Casey grinned and put a hand on both of his shoulders. The younger boy flinched, but he didn't move out of the hold.

"You… you want to be my friends?"

"Didn't we just say that?" I laughed lightly at him. "We'd both like to be your friends if you'll have us Mattie."

"Really?" The boy finally looked up at us with a smile. "I have friends?"

"Yep." I held out my arms and took him into my arms. "Come here. You look like you need a hug."

I felt him shaking against me as he buried his face in my shoulder. "I… I have friends!"

"Yes you do." I smirked as I pulled back and handed him over to Casey. "And I have just the pokemon in mind for you to take with you, granted if her best friend, both of them are good friends of mine, don't mind being separated from time to time." I smiled at the boys. "You might want to cover your ears now before I use my exploud voice."

"Shit!" Casey cried out and covered his ears in a flash. "Mattie! Cover your ears before she destroys your hearing!"

Mattie was quick to cover his ears and hide himself behind Casey's body for more protection. I couldn't help but snicker at them before I turned back to the woods to look for another set of old friends of mine. I took in another deep breath and called out. "BLADE! GUARDIAN!"

"Damn girl!" Casey snapped at me. "Even with my ears covered I still can feel them ringing from your shouting!"

"Ral!"

"Ral!"

Two different voices suddenly called out and I watched as two small white pokemon that had somewhat of a humanoid appearance of a young boy appeared. The body was mostly white while the air like piece of their body was a mid tone green that cut off just below their eyes. A small red oval piece seemed to be sticking out of their heads, just in the middle of the forehead.

"There you two are!" I smiled down at the two of them. "It's good to see you both well."

"Ral!" The male sounding pokemon cried out before he jumped toward me and into my arms. Just by looking at my mind he knew it was me. And there was no way I could mistake Blade either.

"Whoa… those two look so cool…"

"Ral!" The female of the two suddenly vanish from where she was and appeared in my arms with her male friend of the same species.

"Well hello to you too Guardian, you seem to be doing extremely well. Your teleportation is faster then before."

"Whoa!" Casey cried out as he pulled out his pokedex. "A set of ralts!"

I shook my head lightly and pulled out my own pokedex after setting both of them into my other arm. _Ralts, the feeling pokemon. A ralts has the power to sense the emotions of people and poklemon with the horns on its head. It takes cover if it senses any hostility. Ralts nests are rare and tend to only be found on the narrow route of route one-hundred and two. _

"So… you kn-know them Jezebel?" Mattie questioned me quietly.

"Yeah, I know a few pokemon from all over the region that I made friends with before my mother would take me away. I met these two back when I was about eight or so after I'd taken off on her in the middle of a crowd…"

**Jezebel's Memory:**

_I'd escaped the grasp of my mother once again and had run out into the forest while she continued to argue with my father or some other poor soul that didn't deserve to receive her wrath. I'd planned to run out to the middle of the route where I could meet Silky for a short amount of time before my mother would notice my absence and come after me, but this time around, I was startled by a set of pokemon that looked somewhat like little human boys to me, but they were really humanoid pokemon. _

_From the sounds of their voices, I could tell that there was one of each gender. The female of them seemed to have more of a sense of protection about her, as when a wild pokemon was attacking the two of them, she would hold up a shield and throw herself before the male. The male on the other hand seemed to rush forward and physically fight the other pokemon, sometimes using the motion of a blade as if his arm was one. _

_I watched them for the longest of time before the female turned and looked at me and suddenly pulled me out of the bushes with her psychic abilities. I gasped as I was carried out by her and dropped before the two of them. The male was quickly before me with his arm before my face, ready to fight me. _

"_Wait! I don't want to hurt you!" I'd told them as I scurried to sit up and look at them face to face, rather then arm to face. "I thought you two were really cool with your teamwork and I… I didn't want to bother you, so I just watched…"_

_The two of them hesitantly watched me for a few moments before they turned to each other and seemed to be having a mental conversation before they looked back at me. _

"_Ral?" the male questioned me. _

"_I don't know… I just felt it was right…"I shook my head and quickly held out my hand for them. "Let's start over and introduce ourselves. I'm Jezebel! It's nice to meet you!"_

"_Ral?" the female questioned before she smiled at me. "Ral ral, ral ral ral." She gestured to herself and her male counterpart."_

"_Really? I thought your names would have been 'blade' for how he swings his arms around like a fighting type and 'guardian' since you always seemed to be protecting him with a shield or your psychic attacks."_

"_Ral? Ral!"_

"_You want that name?" I blinked at her in surprise. "Well, its all yours then, Guardian."_

"_Ral!" the male cried out. _

"_And you're welcome to take that name too, Blade." I smiled at the two of them. "Hey, you two want to be friends? And then do you want to play a game? We could play hide and seek! I bet you'd be good at it!"_

_Once I'd explained the rules to them, they happily agreed on both accounts to be my friend and play with me as they quickly raced to hide and I counted down from twenty to give them enough time to hide. It was perfect timing for them since my mother had just rounded around a tree and spotted me. _

"_Jezebel!" She hurried over to me and took me into her arms. "Stop running off like that! You make Momma worried!"_

_I didn't reply to her, only showed her a scowl as she had ruined my plans to play with my two new best friends, Blade and Guardian. _

"_Now let's go home, honey. We have to pack. We're heading to a new place. Isn't that exciting?"_

_My mother drowned on in what it would be like to move to our new location and I was forced to leave the two of them behind, bewildered at what had actually took place that day, until I could come back again and explain it. _

**Present (Still Jezebel's Point of View):**

"So that's how I met the two of them and I came back as often as I could before my mother and I moved away, and then I still came back when I could, especially since they and Silky became good friends while I was gone and managed to keep each other company." The worm pokemon on my shoulder smiled and cried out happily while Blade raised his arm to the other pokemon.

"So w-which one w-would I have Jezebel?" Mattie asked nervously. "I don't w-want to force them to s-split up if they d-don't w-want to…"

"Don't worry about that, Mattie, I have that all taken care of." I grinned and walked over to the boy and allowed the female psychic pokemon to teleport herself over to Mattie. She cried out happily when she landed in his arms and snuggled inside. "Blade has always wanted to travel with me, saying that I could make him strong. But he was always worried about his best friend Guardian, so he stayed behind with her until he could find her a place to stay or someone to be with so he knew she was safe. And guess what Mattie," I patted his shoulder. "You're the one."

"M-me?" The boy turned to me, startled once more. "A-are y-you su-sure?"

"Positive, Guardian would be a good friend to you and a type of an actual guardian to keep you safe and help you when you need it. Or if you wanted to try and train her, you could and become a pokemon trainer, if you feel up to it."

"A pok-kemon trainer? Really?" He smiled at me in a dream-like state when I saw that. It seemed to be one of his dreams, along with get past whatever else he has going on with himself and his family.

"I think you could, so long as you be careful and what not." I turned back to the two psychic types. "So what do you guys say? You up to a little separation and a journey with some new friends?"

"Ral!"

"Ral! Ral ral!"

Before I could pull out a pokeball, the two of them had disappeared from sight and appeared a short distance away from us. Blade took a step forward and grinned. "Ral!"

"So you want a battle? A battle for you to see how strong I am and for Guardian to show her trainer how strong she is?" I turned to Mattie and winked at him. "Works for me! Blaze! Silky!" My two pokemon jumped off me and stepped before me. "Let's do this you guys!"

"Ral!" Blade shouted from the other side of the small battlefield of the forest we had.

Our first battle, and it was going to be against one of the pokemon that would join my team… awesome!

"Alright, Blaze, start out with ember on both of them!" Blaze ruffled his feathers and from his beak came a barrage of fire that raced in the air to the other side of the field. Guardian jumped before Blade and cried out to create a shield that surrounded the two of them and the fire went all around them, but no damage was done.

"Wow…!" Mattie cried out in surprise at his soon-to-be pokemon.

"Alright, let's step this up a notch!" I looked over at Silky. "Climb on top of Blaze, Silky, and then the two of you take off to the other side of the field!"

My pokemon did just as such and suddenly were encountered by Blade and Guardian approaching them. Blade's eyes glowed and I watched as Blaze and Silky were thrown back and separated. Guardian then took this moment to take and hit Silky with another psychic attack which she cried out at.

"Silky!" I gasped when I saw her hurt. I quickly shook it off and remembered that this was a battle and got into a trainer mindset. "Don't let that hit bother you! Use poison sting!"

My bug type swung herself back up and her two stingers at the end of her tail were covered in a purple hue while she opened her mouth and fired off small purple needles at Guardian and Blade. Both of them cried out as they were pushed back.

It was at that moment that Silky suddenly took on a bright white glow that covered her entire body before nothing of her could be seen other then a white outline of her while the rest of her glowed and I had to turn away in shock. From between the cracks of my arms that I hid my eyes behind, I saw Silky's body change to that of a small spiked ball sort of shape that was oval like with spikes all over it. The light vanished and I saw her color was now that of a pale orange. Her eyes had almost turned to that of a jade color from between the orange silk that was around her body.

I blinked in surprise. Out battle was partly stopped just to watch the spectacle of my pokemon evolving right before our eyes. I quickly pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at Silky who seemed to have a soft film of stars sparkling around her before they vanished. _Silcoon, the cocoon pokemon and the evolved form of wurmple. It conserves its energy by moving as little as possible. It awaits evolution while drinking only a little rainwater. Silcoon nests are few to none and can only be found in the Petalburg Woods. Please wait… shiny data being uploaded…_

"Cool! Nice job Silky!" I grinned at her. "Now! Use string shot to tie those two up!"

"Coon!" She cried out in a similarly pitched voice and from her mouth came more of the orangey string shot that was covering her body. It surrounded the two ralts' before it tied them together in a sticky mess. They both cried out in surprise, but neither of them could make it out.

"Now cut the line Silky! And Blaze! Use ember on the line!" My two pokemon did as such and just as Silky cut the line, Blaze lit it up with his ember attack that raced to both ends of the flammable line. It quickly covered the two psychic types in flames and I rushed to turn to Mattie.

"Mattie! Up, up!" The boy jumped up from where he was and nervously looked at me. "Now's your chance! Come on!" The boy followed after my motions for him to come join me and I pointed out to the fire that was still burning. "Once the fire is dispersed a bit, take your pokeball and get ready to throw! I'm going to capture Blade first so you know which one you're aiming for-"

I was cut off by a grunt by the younger boy when he threw the only pokeball he had on him out into the flame. I blinked in surprise at his bold move and looked to see the pokeball make contact with one of the ralts' and it fell in the middle of the patch of flames. I saw the fire die down enough while the pokeball tossed a bit that it was Blade that was still in the middle of the fire.

I pulled out a pokeball from my pack. It was a pokeball know as a nest ball that had the familiar white underneath to it, but on top was a darker green with lighter green stripes that circles around the top half of the pokeball horizontally. I quickly threw out the pokeball at Blade before more fire kicked up and it tapped him on the head before he was pulled inside. At that same moment, Guardian's ball settled down and Mattie almost squealed next to me in delight.

"Thank you!" The boy was quick to hug me and lunged his body to where his arms were thrown around my neck and I was supporting him from under his arms with my own. I smiled at his eagerness.

"Not a problem Mattie." I glanced over at Blade's pokeball and watched as it settled down as well and I knew I had my ralts. I grinned. "I guess we both got some good pokemon today."

"Aw man…" Casey sighed. "And I still don't have a pokemon to add to my team…"

"Relax Casey, I'm sure if we hang out on this route long enough you'll find a pokemon to add to your team." I lightly laughed as I went over to the dying fire and grabbed both Blade and Guardian's pokeballs, handing the latter of the two to Mattie. "I'm going to take Mattie back and let you have some time to search around here to find any sort of pokemon you may like." I grinned as I turned around and wrapped an arm around Mattie's shoulders to lead him away and waved to Casey without looking with an arm over my head. "See ya! Blaze! Silky! Let's go and get you two and the others healed up and taken care of so we can go have a nice home made lunch!"

Needless to say, they followed after me.

**HalloweenWitchhalloweenWitch**

"Hey Dad!" My father was waiting for me at the entrance of his gym when we got back. He had a grin on his face when he saw Mattie and me and the small ralts he carried in his arms and the one that was sitting on top of my head. "We're back! And we got Mattie a pokemon!"

"That's great to hear Jez!" My dad brought me into his arms before he patted my back and slapped his hand lightly on Mattie's shoulder. "Nice job there kid."

"Um… here's back yo-your pokemon s-sir…" Mattie handed back the pokeball my father had loaned him an hour ago.

"Thanks Matthew!" He ruffled the boy's bright green hair, which seemed to have gotten some more color to it since we'd gone out. "And I got your trainer card, Jez. Tell me what you think of it."

My father handed me the thin piece of plastic that was shaped into the small size that was a card. It was mostly white in color, thought it had a picture of me that my father had taken in the corner of it and other information on it that people might have needed to see at a later date.

"Awesome!" I quickly placed the card into my wallet that was in my bag. "Thanks Dad."

"No problem Jez." My father smiled at me before he noticed something and looked around. "Hey, where's your friend Casey?"

"Oh, he was sulking that he hadn't found another pokemon yet to add to his team, so he planned to stay behind and look for some while I brought Mattie back. And that reminds me!" Blade looked over at my father from on top of my head and grinned at him while Silky did the same thing in my arms. "I caught and old friend of mine, Blade, and Silky evolved!"

"That's great Hon; just remember to train them still." My father shook his head with a sigh. "A lot of bug type trainers come and battle me because they think they can beat me with their fully evolved bug type pokemon, when the reality of it is, most bug types evolve quickly due to their fast growing nature. Their still so young, but they think they're more powerful. You have no idea how many bug type trainers I have to kick out of here after I destroy their team because they're so lowly skilled with their young pokemon, and then only throw it away in the end to find a stronger one that will evolve faster."

"That's so repulsive!" I huffed. "Stupid bug type trainers."

"That may be Jez," my father ruffled the top of my head a bit. "But you saved Silky from their wrath."

I partly smiled at that. "Yeah… I did…"

"Um… Jezebel?" I turned to Mattie as he twiddled his fingers together with Guardian in his arms. "Th-thank you… for ev-everything…"

"Hey, it wasn't a problem Mattie." I gave the boy a light kiss to his cheek. "And if you ever need help again, don't be afraid to ask for it, especially from me."

The boy was stunned and lightly touched his cheek from where I had given him a kiss. His face burst into a feverish blush that made me think of Christmas due to the blend of green and red from his hair and face.

My father burst out laughing at this. "Oh Jez! I think you broke him!"

"Dad! Stop that!" I stomped on his foot and he cried out and jumped on the other one, but he still managed to keep laughing from the event still taking place before his eyes. I shook my head. "Sorry Mattie, sometimes my father can't help but laugh at others."

"It-it's alright…" Mattie looked up at me through his hair while his face was still deeply red. "Thank you… Jezebel…"

He took off running the next moment and my eyes widened as I watched him run out. Right by the door, after he left, was Casey with a newly caught pokemon, which reminded me of a lotus leaf on top of a small blue body, in his arms and his mudkip sleeping on his shoulder.

"Did I miss something?"

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh did you miss something alright Casey! Oh! How did you guys like that? We already saw a possible couple right in the end of chapter three! What did you all think of little Mattie? Wasn't he cute? He's such a sweetie! I couldn't help but fall in love with him. **

**And we still have another character to meet! Yes, I decided to have a fourth main character, but I thought it would do well with this chaotic story that a fourth character! Don't worry you guys! You'll see them soon!**

**So whose ready to head off to somewhere new? Maybe we might finally see a bad guy for the story? I'm not telling! But if you've played the game, you know what happens!**

**I love you all and I hope you please Review and send in Questions for me and the characters in this story! We all love to here what you guys have to say!**

**See you guys next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	4. First Encounter

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 4: First Encounter_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I'd come to find out later on that evening, after Mattie's quick exit, that Casey had caught himself a lotad. It was a small blue pokemon with a green lotus leaf on top of its head. It had a bit of an out stood lip that was tan and its eyes were black. When I had looked up the information later on, I noticed that it was a strange combination of a grass and water type.

_Lotad, the water weed pokemon. This pokemon lives in ponds with clean water. It is known to ferry small pokemon across ponds by carrying them on the broad leaf on its head. If it does not drink water for too long, the leaf on its head wilts. Lotad nests are somewhat common to the areas of routes one-oh-two and one-fourteen. _

While it was a bit of a cool pokemon to have, I preferred the team of friends I had already. With Blaze and his fiery attacks, Silky with her soon to evolve state, and Blade, with his quick moves and psychic attacks, I thought I had a pretty good team right there, at least, for the time being until I run into some of my other good friends from around the region.

It was the next morning already and I had packed my bag for Casey and me to set out right after breakfast. My father was sad to see me go after such a short time of actually getting to spend some time together after I'd run from my mother. I was a legal trainer now, so she couldn't stop me from going out on a journey with my pokemon and actually having some fun doing it. I promised him that I'd keep in touch and call him once we made it to the next city, Rustboro, where I would have my first gym battle against a rock type trainer named Roxanne Mica.

Casey was excited to test his skills once he got to the city. While he wanted to learn mostly about pokemon and their differences from each other, the thrill of battling was too great for him not to do so, not to mention that if he battles others, he has a higher chance of finding new and different pokemon he's never met before. Or so he told me. He was more into be a researcher then a champion, but that suited me just fine.

After another chaotic breakfast, that ended with my three pokemon took the last bit that the others were fighting over and no one got to get, we prepared to head out to the next city and get stronger before we'd come back and face my dad. My dad cried as we stepped outside of my house, but he couldn't help but grin and kiss my forehead.

"You be careful and have a great time, get stronger, and I'll keep your mother off of your back while you do that. And remember," He ruffled up my hair under my bandanna. "Call me every now and then."

"I got it Dad." I snorted a laugh at him. "Don't worry. Just so long as I get to go and have some fun for once and get away from Mom, I'll be fine. And I have Casey if I need some help or your other gym leader buddies if I really need it."

"Well, that sounds good to me then!" My father pulled back and looked at me with a longing look. "I can't believe my little girl is heading out on her own journey… it's so amazing and heart breaking all that the same time!"

"Dad!" I whipped my body around and started to walk away. "I'm leaving! Good-bye!"

"Not like I didn't expect that to happen…" I heard my dad sigh. "Help her out if you can son."

I looked back at my father talking to Casey and pouted at them. I could handle and look after myself! I'd done it for years with escaping my mother. I rolled my eyes at my father as he finally allowed Casey to follow me and I strutted ahead to make more distance between us.

"Jez! Wait up!" I snorted and my pokemon followed after me at my feet, or at least Blaze and Blade did, Silky was unable to move much in her newly evolved state and I had to carry her. Not that I minded at all, and the two pokemon running around my feet were easily able to keep up with me, at least until I cooled down enough to slow my pace.

"Jez! Slow down a bit!" Casey rushed after me with his pokemon desperately trying to hold onto him and not fall off. "Jez! Please!"

I huffed and stopped in my place and allowed him to come up next to me on the edge of town, heading to route one-oh-four. Casey threw his head forward when he made it to me and took in some deep breaths to calm his quickly beating heart.

"Thanks."

"Are you ready to go?" I quickly turned around to move on more when I felt Casey's hand suddenly grasp my arm and forced me to look back at him.

"Jez, calm down a bit!" Casey breathed heavily. "Your dad's just worried about you; can you blame him after all your mom's done?

I sighed. "I guess not, sorry about that. My family normally tends to argue and get on my nerves. I guess I let it get the best of me when my father started to act all worried for me, since that's what my mother normally did."

He released my arm, but then put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't let it get to you, Jez, you're on your own pokemon journey! Enjoy it! Don't let your memories of your family and the past drag you down."

I nodded and showed the older boy a smile. "Thanks Case."

He grinned back. "No problem. Now, let's get going. If we make it over to Rustboro before dark, we might still get a chance to train and maybe even battle each other before the gym leader."

I couldn't help but snort a laugh. "You can challenge me all you want, but my three pokemon would beat yours hands down, not to mention that I'd only need one of them to take you down."

"Acting a bit cocky there, aren't you Jez." Casey rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't believe you."

I jumped away from him and grinned. "You wanna prove that right now then?"

He shook his head. "Of course I do, but we should focus on getting through this maze of a forest first, and then once we get to Rustboro later today, I'll take you down."

I made a face at that. "Oh, you are so on!"

"Tor!"

"Ral!"

"Coon!"

"Mud!"

"Tad!"

All of our pokemon were out into the open and were playfully growling at one another to battle.

"Oh why can't we have the battle now Casey?" I jumped in place as I questioned the older of us. "It won't take more than five minutes!"

"Alright!" He sighed and turned to face me. "Fine, we'll have a quick battle, we'll have our real battle over in Rustboro, but we can have a quick one now just to satisfy your lust for now."

"Yes!" I pumped my fist and my pokemon all jumped around in joy.

From Casey's side I watched as Mudkip was the one that walked out onto the field. I smirked and looked over at Blaze. He nodded to me and jumped forward onto the small battlefield we had at the entrance of route one-oh-four.

"Alright Mudkip, start out with water gun!" A beam of water emerged from the water pokemon's mouth before it was instantly across the field and it hit Blaze head on. He cried out as the water splashed all around him as it hit his feathers, but he continued to stand strong and not let the water push him over.

"That's the way to do it Blaze!" I cheered before throwing out my first. "Now use ember! Torch that pokemon!" Fire emerged from the beak of my fire type that cut through the water that was blasting at him. The Mudkip cut of its attack in fright as it saw the fire heading its way and was suddenly engulfed by the attack. Blaze cut it off a moment after to make sure that he didn't burn the woods or hurt Mudkip too badly, only to find that the pokemon was heavily burned all over its body, but somehow still standing. Not only was I not expecting it to go down in one hit, but I wasn't expecting it to have such horrible wounds to it. It was breathing heavily, its body staggering to keep standing.

Was Blaze really that powerful?

"Mudkip!" Casey called out worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Kip!" The pokemon cried out and shot out some water over its head. The water slipped over the wounds as it fell from the sky and hissed as it reached the burns. The mudkip seemed to do better as the water was clearing up the fire damage, but that didn't mean that it was healed. It still was having trouble standing up and holding up its own head.

"Let's finish this Blaze, Mudkip won't last much longer." My pokemon turned around to nod to me before facing back at the water type. "Finish it off with peck!"

Blaze rushed toward the water pokemon and started to peck at its skin. The water type cried out before it was thrown back and fell to the ground, not moving as x's showed up over its eyes.

"Alright!" I grinned as I turned to Blaze. "We won our first trainer battle!" I blinked a few times from how relatively fast it had taken me to beat him and I felt as if a giant question mark was floating over my head. "But are all battles like that? I thought they normally had more of an overwhelming feeling of excitement, not that this one wasn't exciting!"

Casey shook his head and returned Mudkip. "Naw, don't worry about it, that was my fault. I treated you as if you were a beginning trainer and took it easy on you and you overwhelmed me like that. Next time, tonight, when we have our real battle between each other, trust me when I say we'll be much harder to handle." A grin reached his lips and I couldn't help but return it.

"That's good to hear then. Makes me feel a little better." I turned and Blaze hurried over to my side to join the rest of us. "Alright then, let's go! We've got some ground to cover!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A few hours later we found ourselves in the heart of the Petalburg Woods. It was a decently small set of woods that most people traveled through to get to Rustburo City from Petalburg, even I had been on these paths many times before, so I knew the maze like the back of my hand. Casey on the other hand, not so much since he was following my lead to take him through this tightly wound maze.

Being to many places all over the region did have its perks, even if it meant that most of the time I ran away from my mother. All the time I'd spent at home for those short periods of time, I'd mostly run away and explore the areas, make friends with pokemon or just watch the wildlife to pass the time. It was really starting to help me out now that was starting my journey.

The woods were thick and closed off, hardly any sunlight reached the depths that we were in. It sometimes would take trainers, and others of all kinds, weeks to get themselves out of these places. I still remember the first time I came in here and had nearly made it to the exit on my first try and _in the same day_ before my mother had found me. Needless to say I tried to hide, but apparently she had a homing sense in for me in her head. It was nearly impossible to hide from her. Honestly, it sucked.

I can't exactly change much about it now. I can honestly say that I'm glad that she chased me so often, it gave me the reason to leave, thus, leading to where I was right now, trying to travel through the woods again, easily knowing which way to go, and most likely the same if we go to most areas around the region, with the exceptions of some water routes since I had no way of fighting against certain hard currents that could send me extremely far away.

"How much longer do you think it'll be Jez?" Casey questioned me as we took another turn into the forest. We'd been out here for a bit of a while, and I'm sure at this point he was starting to get worried if I knew the way or not.

"Of course, we just a have a few paths and turns left to go. Honestly, it's not that much further Casey, I promise. You can even ask Silky if it makes you feel better, or Blade too. When winter time comes around and temperatures actually get really cold, most pokemon take residence up in the forest that are in the area to stay warm, even if it's hardly ever that we see snow."

"Coon!" Silky agreed.

Blade on the other hand chose to remain silent as he curled my neck where he sat on my shoulder and I could feel him nesting his body behind my hair. He seemed to have enjoyed it.

I heard him sigh from behind me. "Okay… sorry for doubting you Jez, it just feels like this woods goes on forever."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it Casey, I got lost a few times when I first got in here too, but I managed to make it through when I was only six, so I think I did alright." I turned my head to give him a soft look. "I understand too that some people can get pretty lost in here from how thick this place is, so I know you're worried, but we'll be fine. It honestly will only be another half hour at most. I promise."

"…Thanks Jez."

"No problem."

"Tor!" Blaze suddenly called out from the few feet ahead of me he was. "Tor torchic tor!"

"What is it Blaze?" I blinked at my little fire type and he pointed to up ahead on the path where just behind a small bush to the side there was a man who was off the path. He seemed to be wearing a business suit of a grayish color with a dark green tie and a white shirt under the suit. His hair was chopped short and his eyes seemed to be that of a dark color that I couldn't see very well from here.

"Excuse me?" I called out to the man, clearly seeing he was off the path where he could easily get lost.

"Hm?" The man quickly looked up from where he was and turned in our direction before he stepped back onto the path with his brief case in hand and hurried over to us. "Oh, are you two trainers in need of some assistance to Rustboro? I could help you if you need; I work there and come here often to see the shroomish, but they seem to be somewhat lacking today…"

I shook my head at him. "No sir, but thank you. We were actually worried if you were lost since you were wandering off the path and you didn't seem like the trainer type in your suit."

He looked down at his attire and shyly smiled at me. "I guess I am a bit out of place, aren't I?

"Hold it right there!" We all turned to look over at a man that suddenly made an appearance from the bushes that gave off a bit of a creepy vibe to him. He was easily noticeable by the stand out colors of a black and white shirt he wore along with the bright blue loose pants and bandanna upon his head with a strange symbol on it. It was outlined in black, but the shape was white. It was like a strangely shaped letter 'A' that had some extra features to it to make it look a bit more either fancy or cool. I really couldn't tell, nor cared, what the true meaning behind it was.

The other man pulled out a pokeball and snarled at the three of us. "I've been waiting forever for you to exit these damn woods so I can steal those fucking papers off you, and I'm tired of waiting!" He threw a fist out in the motion of a punch and jab, which scared the business man next to us. "Hand over the papers or else!"

"Aie!" The man hurried and jumped behind me and Casey to use as shields. "Yo-you two are p-po-poke-mon trainers right? Please! He-help me!"

The other man snorted a laugh. "Hiding behind little beginning trainers? Honestly, what are you, five?"

"Hey!" I growled and felt myself naturally bare some of my teeth. "Jackass, get lost before I kick _your_ ass!"

"Jezebel!" Casey hastily whispered to me. "Don't make him madder! He could really hurt us!"

I only huffed at him. "Casey, I don't care."

I could literally seem the astonishment and fear radiating off of my friend and watched him wither as he sank to the ground. He mumbled a bit to himself before hanging his head and sighing in defeat.

"Fine, but if you end up dead in a ditch somewhere, don't blame me."

I couldn't help but grin. "That's fine. I'll be sure to come back and haunt my father until he knows you had nothing to do with my death."

"ARG!" he cried out. "You're insane!"

"I thought I was bipolar."

During this time that my best friend and I were arguing, the two other men were strangely looking at us and each other, though the business man of the two still hid behind me in fear of the other.

"Enough of your bickering! Get out of my way you brats or you will get hurt!" the evil man shouted.

"I'm _so_ scared." I rolled my eyes at him. "What are you going to do, scream at me? Sorry, that won't exactly work."

"Fine then, I'll take you down by force!" He threw out his pokeball. "Let's go poochyena!"

From his pokeball came one of the most commonly seen pokemon in the entire region that I'd seen almost everywhere I went: poochyena. This one looked just like the one that attacked the professor the other day, grey scraggy like fur with a small canine like body with pointed ears and a black face and muzzle. Its paws were also a very fine back as well. It had red and yellow eyes that angrily had locked onto my friends and I.

I simply shrugged. "Whatever, let's see if you can handle Blade." I turned to my psychic type. "It's your turn for some fun."

"Jezebel!" Casey cried out. "You'll fail with that match up! Blade is a psychic type! His moves won't work against a dark type by nature!"

"He's quite intelligent; maybe I should take that kid back and have him join our organization?" The evil male laughed. "His smarts would help us out."

I felt an eternal fury suddenly build in my heart and my eyes widened in anger and I felt Blade feel that before he teleported from my side and rush to where the poochyena was and punched it. The pokemon cried out in pain and surprise as it was thrown back. Blade stood before me as a protector would and his eyes were centered in on that other pokemon as it tried to get back to its feet. The male before me was so shocked by what had just happened, not to mention Casey and the business man behind me.

"You were saying?" Without even having to command him, Blade leapt into a teleport again and punched the canine pokemon around again, soon getting it to the speed where you could only see a blurry outline as he kicked the shit out of that pokemon. Suddenly the pokemon was shot back at trainer and the evil man was chucked backward as the pokemon was hurled into his abdomen. My ralts was levitating above with a pissed off expression on his face before he landed before me again.

"Jez…" I could barely hear the whisper from behind me from how angry I was.

"Get the hell out of here before I send you up with Blade too, and trust me," I snorted as the man started to back away. "He'll do it."

"Ral!" Blade then decided to use his psychic powers to then start to lift boulders and what not and hurl them at the two before us. They both cried out as they attempted to dodge.

"Damn it! I lost to a kid?" The man jumped to his feet and backed away, out of the fire of the rocks and other debris. "You made a wrong move going against Team Aqua kid! We'll get you next time!"

He jumped into the bushes and was gone the next second. I growled as he left and Blade came back to my side, setting himself back on my shoulder and relaxing into the skin and trying to sooth me with a gentle rub of his hand. I patted his head.

"Thanks Blade. Sorry if I got a little scary at all you guys."

"Ral," my ralts shrugged. "Ral ral."

"Yeah, he was a bit… 'full of himself' is the best way to put it I think." I shook my head.

"Tor!" Blaze stuck up his beak to the air before blowing out some fire angrily. "Tor torchic tor!"

"Coon!" Silky agreed with him.

"I don't think we'll see him again though guys, so you can relax a bit." I snorted a laugh. "But if we do manage to see him or anyone part of the same organization as he is, we'll just take them down like we did this one, okay?"

My three pokemon agreed and after I took a calming breath to soothe myself, I turned back to the two male humans I had behind me. They were both looking at me with wide eyes and stared. "What?"

"You took down one of those evil people terrorizing the region!" the business man yelled. "That was a member of Team Aqua! One of the two groups that have been terrorizing the nation by stealing pokemon, items and people for their own cause!"

"I've heard about them. They just recently became active over the past few years, getting worse by the day," Casey mumbled out, trying to get over what I'd just done. He then turned to look at me. "Jez, I'm sorry for everything I said. I was really worried, but you were able to handle him. I'm sorry if anything I said or did upset you."

I smiled and shook my head. "Not really, besides, I knew you had my back if anything really happened, took a turn for the worst and went downhill for me."

He smiled at that and nodded his head. "Best friends right?"

"The best the world has ever known." I grinned and he replied it in the same manor. He and I high fived and pulled each other in for a quick hug after that (though I had to be careful of Silky in my arms.)

"So shall we get out of here then? We're only a short way from the exit and I believe it might be in someone's best interest-" I looked over at the business man "-if we escort him to Rustboro."

"Really?" The man said suddenly and surprise like. It was the first time he'd spoken since we had the encounter with the Aqua grunt. "You'd do that? Oh, I'm so thankful! Thank you both so much! I have nothing to worry about with you two here!"

A sudden rumbling of the stomachs changed that all really quickly.

"Oops, sorry…" I grinned and rubbed the back of my head nervously. "It's later then we planned to stay out here because of that grunt and I'm starting to get hungry."

"Well," the business man said happily with a grin. "Take me back to Rustboro and I'll treat you kids out to a lunch of your choice, okay?"

"Yes!" I grinned and pumped my fist. "Someone gets to serve _me_ for once!"

Everyone laughed at that and we were soon quick on our way to Rustboro for a good lunch and some rest before a real test of strength would begin. I'd face Casey again for a real battle, and I'd get to battle the gym leader.

**Witch's Note:**

**Yahoo! We finally got to face our first bad guy! And Jezebel whipped his ass and threw it back packing! Wasn't it cool how she was able to handle it and had no hesitation while she fought? And neither did her pokemon?**

**Now we're moving onto Rustboro City for our first gym battle and some fun along the way! Who's ready to battle a gym leader and maybe a friend too? And another question, who wants to see Mattie again? And maybe a new character? Well, we'll see them and more in the next two chapters, so be ready!**

**Alright then you guys, you know the drill, please send in Questions and Reviews and it can be done through the story or through PMs! I love you all and I'll see you next week with a new chapter for you all!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	5. Surprises in Rustburo

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 5: Surprises in Rustboro_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Much to my disappointment later that night, after a good dinner that the businessman had paid for us in Rustboro after emerging from the woods an hour or so before, Casey was too tired to battle and asked to reschedule it sometime after we had our first gym battle. While it disappointed me greatly, I let it slide since I could understand that he was stressed a bit after the day we'd just had.

So when the next morning came, I was up and ready to go so I could have my first gym battle as soon as I could so that later on I would get to battle Casey and see how he really battles.

I woke up much earlier than he ever did. It was almost six in the morning. Casey was sleeping away with his other pokemon in his bed across the room while my pokemon were with me. As soon as I got the chance, I got up and got dressed while my pokemon were waking up. Once I was all set, all three of my pokemon seemed prepared and ready to go. I picked up Silky in my arms and Blade and Blaze chose to walk at my feet. We quietly grabbed all out things and stepped out of the door.

After getting a quick breakfast, the four of us headed out into the large city of Rustboro. It was a surprisingly large city, filled with large businesses and stores that seemed to go on for large areas. Flea markets were taking place downtown as well as a well-known flower store and berry stores were as well. I decided to take my team over to the berry market and buy us some berries that we would all enjoy before we would battle the gym leader in this city, and have a chance to make a battle plan.

With two packages of berries in hand (iapapa and wiki), we stopped on a bench that was outside of the front area to the rock type gym. It was just starting to open up as I watched the lights turn on in the entrance and the doors be opened.

"Alright you guys," I said as I opened up the packages for the others to pick what they wanted for berries to eat. "We need to come up with a strategy for this gym battle."

"Ral?" Blade questioned me.

"No, we can't just beat them up, well… we'll worry about that when we get there, but we first need to figure out who's gonna fight and when." I turned back to glance at the gym briefly. "I've heard that the gym leader uses two pokemon right now, and both of them are rock types. Silky, you'd be at a _huge_ disadvantage, not to mention it's hard for you to move in your cocoon state right now. As much as I hate to do this, I can't let you battle right now until you emerge from your cocoon."

"Coon…"

"I'm sorry about this Silky, but thanks for understanding; I just want to keep you safe until you can really fend for yourself." I turned back to the other two. "Okay, so Blaze and Blade, which one of you two want to go first when we battle the gym leader?"

"Ral!" Blade shouted out before Blaze got the chance.

"Tor!" Blaze cried out upset-like at the psychic type.

"Calm down you two," I said sternly to them and they both looked up at me. "If we can't solve this peacefully, then I'll choose who goes first, but it shouldn't really matter since you both get a chance to battle. Okay?"

Both of the pokemon looked at each other before Blaze gave a nudge forward to Blade. "Tor… torchic tor."

"Ral? Ral ral?"

"Tor!"

"Good job boys, I'm glad you were able to work it out." I smiled down at them, happy to see that they didn't get into a fight. "So Blade, you'll get the first pokemon and Blaze will get the other one, sound okay?"

"Tor!"

"Ral!"

"Coon!"

"Good!" Our two packages of berries were gone and all of us were well fed and set. I threw them into the trash can and turned to the gym. "The let's head in for our first gym battle!"

We hurried over to the gym and pushed open its door before anyone else could slip inside and take our chance for a battle. I was surprised to see a young woman on the other side of the field in a seat in the bleachers above should a trainer have more than one spectator to sit. She was reading a book and had two pokemon looking over her shoulder at its material. She herself was a black haired girl that seemed to have her long black hair pulled back into two pigtails and had pink ribbons on both of them. She had on soft pink leggings and blue top that reminded me a bit of a school uniform where she seemed to have another white shirt below the one she was already wearing and a pink tie tied around her neck, but tucked mostly under it. Her skin was white and her eyes seemed to be a dark color, either hazel or black.

Of her pokemon that seemed to be out with her, there was one that was strangely looking like nothing more than a rock with rocky arms and a face on it. It was staring intently at the book the woman was ready. I pulled out my pokedex to look at this pokemon. _Geodude, the rock pokemon. It climbs mountain paths using only the power of its arms. Because they look just like boulders lining paths, hikers may step on them without noticing. Geodude nests are quite common in this region and tend to be in routes one-eleven, one-fourteen, the Granite Case, Mt. Chimney, Victory Road and the Safari Zone._

I turned then to the other pokemon that was strangely looking like a rock face you would find in some sort of landmark or something like that. It had short arms, stubby legs and black encircling its closed eyes while the nose on it was the only other colored thing, which was a bright red. It was more nuzzled into its trainer's side compared to looking at her book. I pointed the pokedex and it next. _Nosepass, the compass pokemon. Its body emits a powerful magnetism. It feeds on prey that is pulled in by the force. Its magnetism is stronger in cold season. Nosepass nests tend to be pretty common in the Granite Cave. _

"Oh? I see we have an early challenger and one that apparently likes to learn about their opponent's pokemon too!" I looked up and saw the woman looking up from her book to look at me, showing me a sweet smile. She placed a bookmark in her book and set it down where she'd sat before. "Sorry for not noticing you when you came in, I had hoped for a short amount of time to finish this wonderful chapter I was reading."

"Sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my head. "But I came here for my first gym battle; I was too excited to wait."

"I understand, it's not a problem at all. I should be expecting that more since it's suddenly a season where trainers tend to battle more often." The woman stepped down from the bleachers and stood in the leader's box on the other side of the field. "My name is Roxanne Mica, leader of the Rustboro gym. May I ask your name in return?"

"I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain; I just became a trainer a short while ago." The woman seemed to raise her eyebrows at that.

"You're Norman's daughter?" She blinked before she smiled. "I was wondering when I'd see you."

Understandably, I blinked at her in confusion. The woman only laughed at me before she explained.

"What I mean to say is, you're the first child of a gym leader that's come through here in a long time, not since we had the gym leaders in Mossdeep come here and then take over the gym there a few years ago." She shook her head. "But let's put that off to the side, hmm? I believe you're after a gym battle and me constantly talking to you about older times is not going to get that started."

"Alright!" I looked over at Blade. "You ready?" He nodded and teleported himself away from my side and out onto the field.

"Hm… and interesting choice for you to make in order to counter that of my rock types," Roxanne mumbled as she looked to her pokemon. "Why don't you start out Geodude?"

"Geo!" The boulder like pokemon leapt out onto the field and landed before Blade, but my pokemon wasn't bothered by the power of those arms or grin he was giving off.

"First move to the challenger." Roxanne gestured toward us and I looked over to Blade and nodded.

"Alright Blade, start out with confusion, see if you can mess with its head!" Instantly Blade had a hold on the small mind of the rock pokemon and we watched as its mind was attacked. The pokemon howled in pain and threw its head to the side to try and shake Blade's hold, but it was tighter than the ensnaring vines of a grass type.

"Throw it off with mudslap Geodude!" Roxanne called out to her pokemon and in a sudden burst of energy, the boulder pokemon dug its hands into the ground and threw dirt at my pokemon.

"Teleport!" Blade was gone before the dirt even reached him, and with his hold on the mind of the rock pokemon just as bad, it was struggling to just try and obey its trainer.

"Darn it!" Roxanne hissed from the other side of the field. She looked around for Blade, only to discover that my pokemon had made it to the other side of the field, hidden in a corner and out of the Geodude's imitate sight. "Geodude! Behind you! Rock throw!"

Blade had teleported again away from the pokemon before it could even grab a rock to hurl at him. I grinned at Blade; he was just a demonic as ever.

"Alright then Blade! Let's start finishing this up!" I grinned when I saw my pokemon grin back. "Start teleporting and knock that geodude all over the place with you!"

With a grin glued to his face that was partly hidden under the green substance on his head that looked like hair, Blade teleported to where he was behind the geodude and slammed his body into the rock type and threw it up into the air. He then quickly teleported and did the same thing again, and again, and again. It soon turned into one of those spiral things where Blade had the pokemon being thrown around in a circle in the air like he did yesterday with the poochyena.

"Defense curl!" Roxanne cried out and suddenly Blade was thrown to the ground when he went to hit the pokemon again. The rock type fell to the ground before unwrapping its arms from around its body and I saw it had taken some damage, but not too much.

I then turned to the direction of my psychic type. Blade was covered head to toe in bruises, mostly on his arms and shoulders from where he'd hit the geodude. It was most likely a side effect from hitting the rock type.

_Maybe I should have stuck with psychic moves with Blade against a rock type?_

"Are you okay Blade?" I called out to my pokemon. I could see him nod while he painfully rose to his feet. His arms seemed to have taken the worse of the damage, and must have tried to hit the other pokemon while it was hardening its body even more.

"Good job Geodude!" Roxanne clapped for her pokemon. "Now, let's finish this up with rock tomb!"

"Blade! Watch out!" I cried out to him as rocks were hurled at my pokemon and crushed him under them. He didn't have time to teleport away as I watched him go down under. "BLADE!"

It was then all of a sudden that the rocks were hurled off of his body and thrown into the walls or at the enemy pokemon itself, which then was hurled into the opposing wall. I watched the rock fall before the Geodude before it appeared again, but had fallen out of the wall, completely knocked out from the hit. I whipped my head back to where Blade had fallen and a bright light had engulfed his body.

I saw as the shape of his body began to take on a new form. It became slightly larger than before, a bit more feminine looking, but I knew that wouldn't last with Blade being strong and get ready to evolve again and out of this girly looking stage. The form reminded me of a young girl, and a ballet dancer at that. The hair looked to be somewhat short and only come down to just about the shoulders while a tutu like dress floated around his body. Thin, skinny legs and arms emerged from his form and soon the white light vanished and Blade's new form and colors were reviled. His hair was still green, as was most of his body, other than his eyes, which still kept their red hue and the dress on him that was white.

"Kirl…" I heard him growl as he looked himself over. He was definitely not happy with his new form…

I quickly pulled out my pokedex to see what he now was. _Kirlia, the emotion pokemon and the evolved form of Ralts. The cheerful spirit of its trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy. There are no known kirlia nests in the area. _

_I sincerely doubt that Blade will be dancing any time soon, nor will he be happy until he evolves out of this 'girly' state._ I couldn't help but snicker lightly as I saw Blade's new form, but I kept quiet for him. I didn't want him to be mad, nor should I be laughing at his form, which I wasn't, only laughing at the fact that I knew he didn't like it.

"Alright Blade! Come on back buddy, time for some rest!" He sulked a bit as I watched him painfully teleport over to me. "Don't worry, we'll train hard so you don't have to stay in this girly form for long and hopefully your next evolution will be much better, okay?" He nodded sadly. I bent my knees to look at him at eye level. "It'll be okay Blade, just hang in there. Now Blaze is gonna head out, so get all the rest you can in case I need to send you in again. Okay?" He nodded and stepped off to the side with Silky where I'd placed her earlier on. Blaze then ruffled his feathers and hurried out onto the field and chirped up, ready to fight.

"Ho… and interesting choice there, but it's at a disadvantage to my rock type!" Roxanne grinned as she looked to her side. "Nosepass, let's wrap this up!"

"Nose!" The pokemon leapt out into the field and slammed its body down on the ground and that startled Blaze, not to mention threw him off balance a bit.

"Don't let that size get to you Blaze, we can do this! _You_ can do this!" My fire type grinned back at me before he nodded and turned back to the fight. "Not let's start out with peck!"

Blaze rushed as fast as his little legs could carry him over to the other side of the field and started to peck at the lower structure of the rock. It merely tilted its head as Blaze tried to peck through the rock and soon became tired of it and had to take a moment and breathe. The nosepass took this moment to slam its arm into Blaze and throw him back. My eyes widened as I watched my small chick pokemon be hurled into the wall and stay there.

"Blaze!"

"Tor!" Even after the heavy hit, Blaze was quick to jump out of the wall. I breathed out a sigh of relief and quickly turned my head to the rock pokemon.

_So normal hits won't work, so I need to use something a bit different… fire is my only option right now…_

"Alright Blaze! Use ember on that pokemon, boy!" My fire pokemon nodded before a blast of embers quickly were unleashed from his mouth that raced toward the nosepass. The nosepass seemed not to be effected by this attack at all, but as Blaze kept it up over a certain amount of time, the ember got thicker, hotter. I could feel it from where I stood on the other side of the battlefield.

"Tor!" He cried out and suddenly he was taken over by a white light as well, just as it was with Blade just a few minutes ago. I watched as his body drastically changed and fire suddenly blew in a solid jet like stream as it left his mouth and hit the nosepass and it was pushed back under the force. When Blaze cut off the attack, I was shocked to see the opposing pokemon a bright red in color from the heat. It jumped from the wall and started to run around to find a water source, even if it was a rock type, to cool it down.

Blaze suddenly cried out again, his voice mush deeper then before. His body jumped in size where he appeared to almost be as tall as my shoulder now and I saw long arms and legs extend out of a slender body, though I could still see it was covered in feathers. When the light vanished, Blaze was now much taller and the top half of him was a yellow color, with the exception of the three claws on the end of his hands, and the lower half was a reddish orange, the same colored three feathers on top of its head and brown begs past the feathers, that led to talons on the feet. His eyes were still black, but now they had an orangey red color around the pupils.

"Combusken!" he cried out happily.

I quickly pulled out my pokedex to look him up. _Combusken, the young fowl pokemon and the evolved form of torchic. It lashes out with ten kicks per second. Its kicks have outstanding destructive power. Its strong fighting instinct compels it to keep up its offensive until the opponent gives up. There are no known combusken nests in the area._

"And you turned into a fighting pokemon as well! Nice job Blaze!" Blaze ruffled up his feathers to make an impression on the other side of the field, and boy did he get one. Roxanne had gone stiff when my other pokemon evolved. So had her pokemon that was still red from the hot fire that burned its body. I couldn't help the mad grin that appeared on my face as I prepared to make my last move.

"Take them out Blaze! Use double kick!" Blaze leapt across the field in a single jump that had him land right on top of the burning nosepass. He then jumped lightly before in an instant, I didn't even see this well, my pokemon had kicked the rock pokemon so hard with his feet; the pokemon was shoved almost six feet into the ground. Roxanne gasped, as did I, but I gasped for joy rather than fear.

_There was no way that pokemon would still be able to fight after that._

"Blaze!" I cried out to my pokemon. "We did it boy!" My fire type quickly looked back to me and grinned before he leapt back over to me and suddenly picked me up in his arms and swung me around like a rag doll. He was incredibly strong and I couldn't help but laugh at his cheeriness over our victory, the first of eight, now only seven to go.

"Jezebel," Roxanne called from over at where she was next to her fallen pokemon. She returned him and motioned me over to her. "I have something for you."

I walked over to the woman, feeling the beautifly fluttering in my stomach as I approached.

"I have a badge for you, a token of your triumph over me and also, when you collect seven more, will be your ticket into the Pokѐmon League to face the strongest trainers this region knows." She placed the small piece in my hands. "And here it is, the Stone Badge."

Once she removed her hand, I saw the small badge. It was a tanish-brown in color that seemed to have two corners of a rectangle more emphasized then the rest, also with a more tan color on those corners.

"We got it you guys!" I cheered and my pokemon leaped beside me. "We have our first gym badge!"

"Cumbusk!"

"Kirlia!"

"Coon!" To my shock, Silky began to glow as well, suddenly taking on a white appearance as well that swallowed my only female pokemon whole. Her cocoon like body suddenly shed and she sprouted wings from her back and a head and body appeared along with tiny little legs and hands. I could see a long nose of some kind that seemed to be curled up in a spiral right in front of her face while two antenna were on her head.

The light suddenly vanished and Silky took to the sky as the sparkles followed after her, with her being a shiny of course. She was a purple color, mostly, that was soft to the eye. Her body, which was a small one at that, was a very light grey color that was hinted with some of that soft purple color. It seemed to be brighter in the center of her face and the center of her body as well, where a small circular patch of even lighter grey was, still laced over with a hue of purple. Her antenna, mouth/nose thing and wings were all purple, with the exception also of her wings that also had other colors that were in the wing as well. Spots of pale yellow, red and blue were identically laid out on her wings in a pattern. Her eyes stood out to her body and made a good flow though, they were a bright sapphire blue.

"Whoa… Silky! You look amazing!" My pokemon flew down onto my head and landed there with a smile. "And you can fly and move now! You can battle again!"

"Beau!" she cried out happily. I quickly pulled out my pokedex to see what information there was on her. _Beautifly, the butterfly pokemon and the evolved form of silcoon. Its colorfully patterned wings are its most prominent feature. It flies through flower-covered fields collecting pollen. Despite its appearance, it has an aggressive nature. It attacks ferociously when angered. There are no beautifly nests in this region. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

"And that also makes three evolutions in one day!" I shook my head at that. "Wow, that's a lot."

"I don't believe I've ever heard of that amount before," Roxanne said as she looked my three pokemon over. "But then again, you aren't a normal child."

"I should hope not," I mumbled.

"Anyway, congratulations to you, Jezebel, and have a wonderful journey." Roxanne turned halfway to head back inside her gym. "I must prepare for any more challengers I see today and also send word to Brawly, the next gym leader, that you are coming."

"Thanks Roxanne, I'll make you proud!" After that I hurried out of the gym with my pokemon rushing behind me to hurry to the pokemon center to heal up and get ready for that battle Casey promised me.

And man… did I plan to whip his _ass_!

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, my pokemon and I were eating a great lunch over at the pokemon center and all of my pokemon had been healed up. Blade was still a bit sour over his new form, which Blaze couldn't help snickering at a time or two, but the two of them still tended to get along well, other than the constant bickering or fighting between them. I think they were trying to figure out who was the more dominant male on my team?

I could only shake my head at them while Silky and I ate away. Due to Silky being a bug that had one of those strange mouth things, she had to drink nectar or sugar water for energy, or liquified pokemon food. It was really strange, but if she liked it and was happy and healthy, that's all that mattered to me.

I hadn't seen Casey for a while now, not since I left him sleeping on the bed in our room from early this morning when I got up. It irritated me that I had no way to contact him at all, but I could do nothing but wait until I ran into him again.

"Hey Jez!"

_Speak of the devil…_

I turned my head to see Casey walk in that moment and he grinned at me. "So I saw you were already gone this morning when I got up, so I went out for some crazy training to take you on for real this time, and I know we're ready for the gym." He pulled out his pokeballs. "So you ready for a match now?"

"Sure." I turned in my seat and it was then that Casey saw that all three of my pokemon had evolved. I grinned at him. "Oh and just to let you know, we got our first badge today." I proudly pulled out my case and showed the single badge to him. Casey sulked and fell to the floor, depressed.

"Damn it!" He snorted again before he looked back up at me and then a smile somehow appeared there, like he'd just thought of something. "Let's do this then, since I'll need more training to battle you fully, how about we have a battle between Silky and Lotad? I spent a lot of time training him, and you know Silky's strong, and she just finally evolved."

I turned to look up at my newly evolved bug pokemon on my head. "Are you okay with that Silky? I won't force you if you feel like you want to train first."

"Beau!" my pokemon argued back at me. She took to the air and floated before Casey, ready to battle.

"Let's take this outside then." Casey grinned and turned to head outside of the pokemon center with his pokeballs in hand.

I could only shake my head and turned back to my other two pokemon. "You guys can go ahead and finish your lunch first before you join us. You deserved it after the job well done you both did today."

The two of them nodded and returned to eating their food before I headed out the door to follow after Casey and my bug pokemon that wanted desperately to battle as well. The two of them were waiting outside with Casey's pokemon already waiting outside its pokeball and quite ready to battle. Silky was the same way as she shifted through the air. She turned to look at me and nodded when I was there and ready to start the battle.

"Alright Lotad! Let's start out with nature power!" Casey's pokemon then used some sort of special ability that made his body glow, or at least an outline appeared around it before large stars, or a swift attack, were hurled at Silky.

"Dodge them and then tackle it!" My pokemon did as such as she dodge and weaved through the attack in the sky with an incredible speed that I'd never seen before. She then dived in and slammed her body into the lotad's, thus sending it backwards.

"Nice Silky! Now use gust and send that thing flying!" My bug type then fluttered up some air that soon took shape and developed and was soon visible as it became thicker and sliced through the air before it circled around the lotad's body and suddenly sucked it up off the ground. Casey could only stair in wonder and amazement as he watched this event happening before he remembered that was his pokemon that was being thrown into the air by a gust attack.

"Lotad! Use water gun and soak down that bug pokemon!" The grass and water type pokemon then used the wind to send down its water to the center of the swirling wind which then threw out the water in spurts to everything that was on the other side of the wall of water and wind. I got hit, Casey got hit. I think everything but Silky got hit as she gracefully dodged each flying bit of water.

It was then that we saw a glowing inside the gust and water gun attack combination. It was bright and suddenly the wind and water both shot away from the lotad as it began to evolve.

_Damn it…_

The body got larger to where it was a bit lanky with long arms and legs that seemed to flop and a body that hung over, though there still was a lotus leaf on the top of its head. When the light shot off it, I saw colors of bright green and light blue. Its lips were now colored a bit pinkish red and was in the form of a pout.

I pulled out my pokedex to see what we had to deal with this time. _Lombre, the jolly pokemon and the evolved form of lotad. It lives at the water's edge where it is sunny. It sleeps on a bed of water grass by day and becomes active at night. In the evening, it takes great delight in popping out of rivers and startling people. Lombre nests are uncommon, but can be found sometimes on route one-fourteen._

"Great, another pokemon evolved…" I stretched and shook it off. "Oh well, just means a greater battle! Now where were we…?" I gazed over to where the new pokemon landed before its trainer and then settled in a position ready to fight.

"Alright Lombre! Let's start out with-"

"THIEF!" Casey was cut off when we heard the shrieking of a familiar voice off in the distance. And sure enough, I saw the same suited guy who we had rescued yesterday shouting at two grunts of that 'Team Aqua' group we'd met yesterday. "BRING ME BACK MY PAPERS YOU THIEF!"

"He got his papers?" I whistled back to the pokemon center. "Blaze! Blade! Let's go!" They were by my side in an instant with speed and teleportation. I looked over at Casey worriedly. "Gotta take another rain check on that battle Casey, I believe we gotta go help him!"

"Right!" With our pokemon with us, we ran through town and after the two men that took off to the woods in the northeast.

**Witch's Note:**

**Phew! Another chapter done and man am I sore! I've been having the worst back pains lately and it's been hard to actually sit down and get some good writing down when you want nothing to do by either lay down or cry from the pain. **

**(Don't worry about this too much guys, by the time you read it, my pain will be well over with.)**

**But anyway, another nice chapter done! Jez has her first badge and Casey soon will be, but that will be after we take care of a couple of grunts that just need to be taught their place! Who wants to see that? (I raise my hand like a five year old.) Well… at least that's one vote…**

**Alright you guys, you know the drill! Please leave me any comments of your liking in a Review and remember to sending Questions for me to post at the end of this story with answers! And any of the characters will answer them, at least, sort of… Rose might be too crazy to answer anything, but your welcome to try anyway.**

**Okay, I love you guys, as you all know, so I shall see you next week with a new chapter and some grunts getting their asses handed to them by Jez!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	6. The Captain's Stolen Pokemon

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 6: The Captain's Stolen Pokѐmon_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Casey and I rushed into the northern woods and hurried along its path to where we could start to see a bit of a clearing from where a mountain was formed. As we hurried out onto the route, we saw many trainers that looked like they wanted to battle, but were too stunned by seeing the grunts that had raced past here earlier. We continued to rush past them all and follow any leads were could to where these thieves were hiding.

"Come on Casey! I think I see something up ahead!" I called behind me, whipping my head back just for a moment to make sure he got the message before turning back to see where I was going.

"Got it!" I heard him call back.

Our pokemon were racing to keep up with us, or at least, some of them were. Blaze, Blade and Silky were all able to keep pace with me as we rushed after the attackers. Mudkip was on Casey's shoulder to keep up with him, but his lombre, just evolved, was having a tough time with his new wobbly legs. Casey had to quickly return him as we continued to rush ahead and couldn't afford to stop.

"Ah! Me pokemon!" I heard someone shout up ahead. I pushed myself to run even fast until we ended up right in front of the tunnel entrance and were met with an older man that looked much like a retired sea captain with a scraggy beard of white and almost no hair on his head. "Ye asswipes bring back me Peeko!"

"Damn Team Aqua!" I hissed under my breath as I jumped onto the rocks and past the older man. "I'm gonna really show them I mean business this time!"

"Hey!" I heard from inside the cave. "Let me go you bastards!"

"Lea-ve her alone!"

My heart almost stopped there when I heard that voice. It was Mattie. _He was in there too! He was in trouble!_

"Blaze! Blade! Silky!" They all nodded to me and we rushed inside the cave like our asses were on fire.

I quickly saw the mess of trouble they were in. Team Aqua had the papers in hand that belonged to the business man in his case to keep them safe and from getting scattered. There were two of them as well, both male, which meant more muscle power to them. I saw before them, through the strange thin fog that was in this cave, that there was Mattie trying to protect and help a girl who got grabbed by them.

She was a red haired beauty from what I could see. Long locks of scarlet red cascaded down her back in thick curls that was pulled back into a tail and she wore a light blue pair of shorts and a sports bra over her skin that was the same color as her hair. She was holding a pokemon closer to her that she was trying to shield from the grunts that were trying to rip it out of her hands.

"Confusion! Double kick! Stun spore!" My pokemon all raced out ahead of me other than Blade who used his powers to crush the minds instantly of the men before us while Blaze jumped into and used his powerful legs to kick them back and throw them onto the ground. It was then that Silky flew over them and spread spores over their bodies to prevent them from moving. They flinched from the pain and the spores as they were huddled in a corner.

"Damn kid…" I heard one of them hiss. "Not going to stop us!"

"No!" The other grunt tried to cry out, but it was muffled by his pain. "That's the girl that other grunt was talking about that took him out in the Petalburg Woods!"

"I don't care! It was his fault for losing to a beginning trainer! I'm not _that_ weak!"

"Really?" His pokemon came out as another poochyena that Blaze snorted at and kicked to the side where we saw a wingull in a cage. My eyes settled on that and I felt the blood boil in my veins. "And that must be Peeko, the older gentleman's pokemon, in the cage, correct?"

Both grunts didn't answer me.

"Casey?" I questioned him in as sweet of a voice as I could possibly manage at this moment. "Would you do me the biggest favor of all time right now?"

"Uh… sure, Jez…" I could hear the nervousness in his voice. "What do you want me to do?"

"Take Mattie and his friend outside along with the suitcase and Peeko as well and return Peek to his trainer." I felt my muscles aching and my adrenaline running high. "I'm really pissed right now and I need to let out my anger, and I'd rather not do that to you three or your pokemon."

I heard Casey intake a breath before he quickly grabbed the hands of both of the two other trainers in the cave with us. "Let's go, people. We gotta move!" He then let them run out and he hurried back to grab the case from Silky, who had been kind enough to grab it for him, and then grabbed Peeko's cage and hurried out of the cave.

"Now then, with us with a little _alone time_…" I cracked my knuckles. "I need to let out some steam, and you two working as punching bags works out just fine…"

Hearing them scream as I threw my fist as them was music to my ears at that moment…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Once I was done letting out all of my anger, I'd calmed down considerably and walked happily out of the cave with my pokemon. When we arrived outside, I saw that the small bird pokemon was released from its cage and was back in the rightful arms of its trainer, the older man. The bird flew around happily while the man laughed and hugged it from time to time before it landed on his shoulder and I saw him talk to my friends.

I pulled out my pokedex, while they still didn't notice me, and pointed it at the flying pokemon. _Wingull, the seagull pokemon. It makes its nest on a sheer cliff at the edge of the sea. It has trouble keeping its wings flapping in flight. Instead, it soars on updrafts. Wingull nests are quite common and tend to be around most coastal towns or islands like Dewford Town, Evergrande City, Lillycove City, Mossdeep City, Pacifidlog Town and Slateport, along with the routes one-oh-three, one-oh-four, one-oh-five, one-oh-six, one-oh-seven, one-oh-eight, one-oh-nine, one-ten, one-fifteen, one-eighteen, one-nineteen, one-twenty-one, one-twenty-two, one-twenty-three, one-twenty-four, one-twenty-five, one-twenty-six, one-twenty-seven, one-twenty-eight, one-twenty-nine, one-thirty, one-thirty-one, one-thirty-two, one-thirty-three and one-thirty-four._

_Shit! That's a widespread pokemon species!_ I couldn't help but gasp at that information.

"Oh, lassie! Come on over here so I can thank ya!" I turned my head to the older man who was cheering on the fact that he had his companion back. It brought a chuckle to my lips.

"Coming sir!" I hurried down the rock steps to where he and my friends and the girl were.

"Oh lassie!" The man quickly pulled me into a tight hug at which I couldn't help but let out a surprised yelp. "If it weren't for yerself and yer pokemon, Peeko woulda been gone!" He set me down and gave me a moment to steady yourself. "What's yer name lass?"

"Jezebel, sir." I wheezed my reply at him.

"Well then Jezebel, as a token of me thanks, let me offer ye this, a free boat ride between the cities of Petalburg, Dewford and Slateport." The older man rubbed the back of his head. "'m an old sea captain that retired a long time ago, name's Captain Briney Jones. I have me personal boat that I use from time to time and I can take ye out to sea, I know trainers have a hard time gettin' to the islands without a boat, and I could take ye there, and yer friends of any kind, fer free!"

"That sounds amazing! I need to go there for my next badge anyway, and to some of the other cities as well." I held out my hand for him to shake. "Thanks captain."

"Not a problem lass, I'll see ye later on then." Peeko landed on the older man's shoulder and he half turned away from us. "It's time for Peeko and me to return home. Good-bye lass!" He then hurried on his way and it was then left with just the four of us and our pokemon.

"Thank Latias! Now I can go and get a shirt on!" The girl sighed in relief and turned to run off. "Thank you though! Meet me back at the pokemon center and we can talk there!"

"Well…" I blinked at the girl as she took off. "That was strange."

"Come on," Mattie came over and pulled gently on my hand. "I'll i-introduce you to h-her. She's a-another friend of m-mine that I m-made recently."

"Sure, Mattie." Casey put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay with that Jez?"

"Not a problem at all." I smiled and allowed the boy to hold my hand as he pulled me along. I squeezed his hand lightly and I watched a blush break out on his face, but he didn't let go.

_Oh he was just __**so**__ cute!_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After Mattie had brought us back to the pokemon center (and after I gave back the suitcase filled with special papers for the same business man for the second time), we saw the same girl again in a sitting area of the pokemon center, this time with a button up, pale red shirt on that had its sleeves ripped off, giving it a jagged edge. The girl seemed to be in a better mood now (not that I blamed her; I felt a lot better after I beat the crap out of those grunts) and was drinking a glass of water when we came and sat with her.

"Sorry about running away like that earlier." The girl nervously mumbled and set down her glass. "Those grunts had somehow gotten their hands on my pokemon's pokeball and I was only in my bra at the time, but I had to chase after them."

"No, it's alright, we understand," Casey told her. I saw a light tint of pink come to his face. "It be the same for me or any of the others; we would have done the same thing in your position."

I couldn't help but lightly snicker, but I kept it hidden behind my hand. No one seemed to notice but Mattie, who shot me a worried look. I lowered my hand and grinned at him while squeezing his hand again, causing his face to turn red.

"If I can ask though, who are you?" I turned my head to the girl who looked away from Casey. "I want to be able to thank my savior properly and for showing those grunts what a real trainer is."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain, and my pokemon that helped help you were my combusken named Blaze, my kirlia named Blade, and my beautifly named Silky."

"And I'm Casey Birch; I have a mudkip and a lombre on my team." Casey grinned at the girl.

"Well Jezebel, thanks for helping me." She totally ignored Casey and I watched his body turn to stone in displeasure as the girl shook my hand as well as all of my pokemon's. She then turned to Mattie. "And thank you too Mattie, if you weren't there, I wouldn't have had a chance to swipe back my pokemon or hold them off until Jezebel got there."

"It-it wasn't a problem…" The boy looked down at his hands nervously, but he had a soft smile on his face.

I turned back to the girl. "And what about you? Who are you?"

"Oh me?" The girl held back a laugh. "I'm Aria Charolette. My dream is to become a world famous reporter and own my own publishing company one day that sells popular, yet true, news to people. I became a trainer because sometimes you can get good information about people through battle, and I love pokemon anyway. I test my strength against other trainers and even gym leaders."

"That's pretty cool," I told her. "My dream is to be the pokemon champion of this region. I want to battle strong people, but I also want to be able to help others too. Just like I always wished that someone would have helped me in the past…"

It got quiet for a moment before the conversation turned over to Casey, who tried to take the attention off of me.

"And I want to become a pokemon researcher just like my father," he explained to us all. "I love all types of pokemon and love to study and look at them." He then nervously rubbed the back of his head. "But in order to study them sometimes, I have to have them battle to get stronger and see new things about them appear, that and the lust of battle drew me in."

"I don't really know what I want yet…" Mattie mumbled and the rest of us looked at him. "But I did become a trainer. I-I didn't want to be stuck at home anymore, or alone." He shook his head as he pulled out three pokeballs and let what was inside out. I saw Guardian, still in the form of a ralts, but two other pokemon were with him as well.

One of them was a small kitten like pokemon that was pink and tan in color and had a large, thick, ball shaped section of skin on the end of its tail that looked like it could hit someone with it. I pulled out my pokedex to look it up.

_Skitty, the kitten pokemon. It's said to be difficult to earn its trust. However, it is extremely popular for its cute looks and behavior. Skitty has the habit of becoming fascinated by moving objects and chasing them around. This pokemon is known to chase after its own tail and become dizzy. Skitty nests tend to be pretty rare and only have been found on route one-sixteen._

The other pokemon he had was a strange looking female pokemon that was very small in size. It looked like it was wearing a dress made from folded over leaves and had two roses for hands, one blue and one red. Three thorn like horns that looked like hair were on its head.

I pointed my pokedex at that pokemon too. _Roselia, the thorn pokemon. A roselia that drinks nutritionally rich spring water blooms with lovely flowers. The fragrance of its flowers has the effect of making its foes careless. The stronger its aroma, the healthier the roselia is. This pokemon tends to be commonly seen on route one-seventeen_.

"My team of Guardian, Luna and Roza… they and my friends have helped me learn so much- like that I shouldn't be hiding away, but chasing any dream that I can. I decided then that I wanted to be a trainer and I want to try and beat the Pokѐmon League."

"Nice Mattie. That sounds good, and I know you'll be surer about it in the future." Aria grinned. "Well, I don't want my pokemon to be left out on all the fun! Let me introduce you guys!" She threw out two pokeballs and from them came two drastically different pokemon.

The first of the two looked to almost be cowering behind its trainer. It was a small pokemon that had its ears flopping down before its face and its eyes were nothing more than little slits, if even that. Its body was small and pinkish in color with yellow bits on the ends of its ears. It looked almost as if was ready to cry. It had small, extremely small arms and feet. I pulled out my pokedex to look up its information.

_Whismur, the whisper pokemon. Its cries equal a jet plane in volume. It inhales through its ear canals. Because of this system, it can cry continually without having to catch its breath. It usually murmurs, but starts crying loudly if it senses danger. Whismur nests are quite common in the route of one-oh-six along with the Rusturf Tunnel and the Victory Road._

The other pokemon was a bright silver color with a red eye at the end of it. It almost looked like a single floating piece of a metal arm, or something like that, but with no hand. It had small claws on the end of it that had a bit of a rusty orange color to them.

I pointed my pokedex at that pokemon, but when the picture came up, instead of silver, it looked dark blue. _Beldum, the iron ball pokemon. It uses magnetic waves to converse with its kind. All the cells in its body are magnetic. Beldum keeps itself floating by generating a magnetic force that repels earth's natural magnetism. When it sleeps, this pokemon anchors itself to a cliff using the hooks on its rear. There are no known beldum nests in this region. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

"Oh wow! Another shiny pokemon!" Casey gushed over Aria's beldum while it angrily looked at him before it head butted him and shoved him back. Casey fell to the ground, groaning.

"Sorry, Beldum doesn't like people getting up into his face except for me!" Aria smiled at her pokemon's work while it settled down in her lap and she petted him and her other pokemon. She didn't sound very sorry to me for Casey.

"Doesn't look like he likes much of anyone but you, if you ask me," I said as I looked down at her pokemon, who didn't give me a glare, but a questioning look.

"Doesn't matter." She shrugged. "He's in my care, and so long as he's with me, he can do almost anything he wants. I won't get rid of him." She hugged the pokemon to her chest. "I love him too much."

"Well, that's a good thing." I looked over at Casey and pointed over at. "Because if you did give him up, not saying you will, but I doubt that Casey would be a good match for him."

Aria ended up laughing at that and jumping to her feet, holding out her hand for me. "You know what, Jezebel? I think we're going to be good friends."

"I think you're right Aria," I stood up and took her hand as well. "And you can call me Jez if you'd like."

"All right then, Jez."

"Ah ha!" We both whipped our heads around with the others to look at the same business man in the doorway. "I finally found you all!"

"Hi?" I let go of Aria's hand and looked back over to the man that had just entered the room. Casey was finally able to get up with the help of Mattie and stood with us. "What's up?"

"The head of Devon Corporation would like to have a word with you all, that is, if you have a spare moment." I looked over at the others and they all shrugged at me.

"What? Am I the leader or something for you guys?" They all shrugged again and I sighed before turning back to the man. "I guess we've got time. What's your boss man want to say to us?"

"He wants to thank you for saving me twice and ask a favor of you, especially you, Jezebel."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, we found ourselves at the top of a large building known as Devon Corp., where the guy I've saved about twice now was taking us to see the big man up in the boss' chair. He mentioned that he wanted to thank us in person and also ask a favor of me, and maybe my friends as well.

When we got to the top floor, I was amazed to see that there was a large conference room with the president down on the other end of the table, waiting quietly as we entered. Only four seats were present that were right around him on his end of the table. I looked back at the others before walking down one side, on the left, and sitting in the chair next to the president. Next to me sat Aria while Mattie and Casey sat on the opposite side, Mattie being across from me and Casey being across from Aria. Once all of us were seated, the president look at each of us before his eyes landed on his assistant in the back, the business man, and the man came over running.

"Yes, Mr. Stone?"

"Please go and see if the package is done and bring up the gift we have made for our guests." The older man's voice was a bit raspy, probably from getting high up in the years. I could see his salt and pepper colored hair turning white from under his hat and his arms looked really skinny under his brown suit.

"Of course Mr. Stone." The man quickly ran out of the room and was well on his way to get whatever the older man asked him to do.

"Now… if I may ask, would you all introduce yourselves to me?" the president questioned us. "I am Mr. Stone, the president of this company, and I wish to thank you, and also make sure I say your names correctly and to the right person."

"I'm Aria Charolette!" Aria quickly said before anyone else could.

"I'm Casey Birch," Casey replied.

"I-I'm Matthew Ashling… but y-you can ca-all me Mattie…" Mattie nervously tried to spit out his name, but had a hard time doing so.

"And I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain," I said as calmly as possible.

My name seemed to catch his attention.

"Ah… Miss Emery-Twain, I was wondering when I'd run into Norman's daughter."

"You're the daughter of a gym leader?" Aria shouted in surprise. "No wonder you're so strong!"

"You mean you didn't know?" Casey snickered. "Nice detective work there Aria."

I heard a bang under the table in the next second and Casey was hunched over in pain. Aria looked quite proud of herself, and I knew she'd hit him in his 'balls'.

"You were saying Casey?" Aria asked him sweetly.

"_Enough, children_." My gaze and tone alone startled them out of the debate they were having. "Behave or you're both leaving, understand?"

"Yes Jezebel…" Both of them sulked as they let their heads fall in a depressed manner from my order.

I shook my head at the two of them and I looked over at Mattie. He shook his head as well, but showed me a smile. I couldn't help but returned it to him. How could you not to that adorable face and person?

"Well, it seems your friends listen to you well, Jezebel," Mr. Stone said. "You seem to have quite the knack for leadership."

"I just do what I have to, sir. Nothing more." I shrugged at him.

"Very well, but now let us get down to business, shall we?" The president stood up from his chair and pulled down a map behind him that covered most of the light from the windows behind him and he pointed at certain places. "You see, my dear, I am at a dilemma right now with the way things seem to be going. Improved plans of ours and parts for factories and shipyards down in Slateport cannot be transported safely with the threat of Team Aqua and Team Magma, who have been after many of them for the past year, getting more active as the days fly by." He pointed to two locations on the map. "I have a letter I need delivered to my son that contains personal and valuable company information in Dewford, and I need a package of a specific part and plans delivered to Slateport for a new underwater exploration sub that's being built there-"

"So you want me to take them for you."

"Exactly, since my workers have already been attacked more than once, and especially closer to home these last few times, you're the only one that I would feel comfortable with these tasks." He placed away the map and looked back at me. "Would you be willing to do this Jezebel?"

"I don't mind. I'm heading to those places anyway." I shrugged. "I need to head to Dewford for my next gym badge and I need to head to Slateport to head to the next gym after that, which I think is north of there." I stopped for a moment as a thought hit me. "These two items I'm taking aren't that big, are they?"

"No, no, nothing more than a simple letter in a normal sized envelope and a briefcase that you can carry. It's all very light- you'll hardly notice you have it."

"Then I'm all for it."

"Excellent!" He then handed over the letter that I would be taking and set it on the table before me. "My son is named Steven and he most likely will be inside the Granite Cave. He loves finding rare, empowered rocks for me and discovering what they do to pokemon with evolution or stat increasing." The president then looked over at the door when we heard a knock. "Come in."

The business man then walked in. "Your package and the gifts for the children, sir."

"Thank you Mr. Roberts. Set them here and I shall distribute them. Please go back and see how the fossil revival project is coming along."

"Of course Mr. Stone." He placed the box and suitcase on the table in front of the president before he walked out of the door. Mr. Stone then took the briefcase and slid it across the table so that it was before me.

"Please take good care of this Miss Emery-Twain. We cannot afford for Team Aqua or Team Magma to get any more of our merchandise." I nodded to him. "And now, for your gifts."

Mr. Stone then pulled out the box and handed it over to my side of the table first. "Ladies first. Please choose one of the devices of your liking. There are four colors for you to choose from-"

"I want yellow!" Aria grabbed the bright yellow colored device before Mr. Stone had the chance to say more. She grinned and turned to me. "You don't mind, do you Jez?"

"Not at all. I prefer green anyway." I took the dark green device inside the box before I slid it over to the boys. Mattie nervously looked at the box and then at Casey.

"I-I hope you do-don't mind Casey… but I kinda w-want the blue o-one…"

"Not a problem Mattie. I like red better." Casey then took the bright red device and Mattie took the dark blue one and it was then that Casey's eyes went wide as he looked at the device. "No way! It's a pokenav!"

"Indeed, young man. It seems you're familiar with our most recent product." Mr. Stone pulled out one that he seemed to have on himself and showed it to us. It was black in color. "This is our newest invention for the world, wireless phones, maps and other special features. To upgrade from the PC standard phone that we've had for many years, we've upgraded to where we are now wireless and able to talk from almost every location you can think of. There is a section where you can have everyone on speed dial and a place where you can look at maps of certain locations, or make your own maps for inside locations that you may travel in, such as Petalburg Woods, that tend to get most people lost. Another section is where you can take photos and videos and another is where you can connect to the Internet. Of course there are many other features that are on there, but I'll let you four figure them out on their own."

"Yes! I've been trying to save up money forever for this!" Aria cried out happily. "Thank you so much!"

"Yeah! I've been after one of these too!" Casey pumped his fist in the air. "This is awesome!"

"Th-ank you sir…" Mattie said nervously. "Now I can c-call my friends…"

"This really helps me out; now I can call my dad and my friends as often as I want." I turned to Mr. Stone. "Thank you. I promise not to let you down."

"I know you won't Miss Emery-Twain." The older man smiled. "Now, shall we test and make sure all your models are working correctly?"

"I call going to the outside of this building!"

"Me too!"

Aria and Casey fled the room as fast as their feet could carry them which left Mattie and me with Mr. Stone.

"Sorry about them."

"It's quite alright. It's good to have some friends with energy like that." Mr. Stone laughed. "They honestly remind me of my parents a long time ago, always full of energy and at each other's throat."

"Sounds about right."

"Jezebel?" I turned my head to Mattie. "Not to b-be rude or anything… but I should head back home a-after this. My uncle must be wondering where I-I am."

"No problem. You head out when you think you need to, Mattie. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"No… I want to be here…"

"Well, now that you have a pokenav, you could call him and let him know you'll be heading home so he's not so worried."

"Oh… yeah… that would work." He paused for a moment. "Um… Jezebel?"

"Yes?"

"Um… could… could I…"

He was cut off by the ringing of my phone. I quickly pulled it out and put it up to my ear. "Hello?"

"_It works!_" I heard Casey shout. "_I already called home and I'm at the bottom of the building! Come look down at us Jez!_"

I sighed before I let out a laugh. "Those idiots…" I motioned for Mattie to follow me and we looked out through the window. The two of them were waving their arms wildly from at the bottom of the building and out the front with one of the business men.

"We see you Casey, Aria. We'll be down in a minute." I hung up before he could say anything. I shook my head and turned back to Mattie. "So what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh… uh… nothing Jezebel…"

I blinked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, okay then." I gave his hand a squeeze and his blush came out again. "Don't be afraid to ask me anything. Okay Mattie?"

"O-okay…"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"All right then!" Aria excitedly said as we stepped back into the pokemon center. "So what now?"

"Well, I should be on my way to deliver these items to their respective places, and I'd like to get in my next gym battle if I can." I shrugged. "Mattie said he needs to get home, and I have no idea what you have planned, Aria, but I know Casey still needs his gym battle."

"Yeah, I'll stay behind for that," Casey said. "You can go ahead if you want, Jez. I'll find another way to Dewford and meet up with you somewhere. We have pokenavs now so we can call each other whenever."

"Oh, okay then." I turned back to Aria. "So I guess you're coming with me then? Or are you staying too?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you." She flashed out her badge case and showed it to me, Casey and Mattie. "I already have my first badge and I really want to get my next one! And meet Steven Stone!" She blushed at that when she said his name. "He's so cute!"

I couldn't help but snicker at her, luckily she didn't notice. "All right then. Wanna set out now? We can rest in Petalburg at my Dad's place and then go to Mr. Jones' cottage right there on the edge of town to head south."

"Sounds good to me!" She grabbed my hand. "And I can get to know you along the way!"

"Sounds goo-od!" I yelped when she yanked me along with her out of the pokemon center.

"Then let's go!" Both of the boys waved nervously at me as I was dragged away by the wild Aria Charolette.

_What the hell did I get myself dragged into?_

**Witch's Note:**

**Dude! I managed to get this chapter done in a single day! Can you all believe it? It's incredible! Man, even with all the breaks, I never thought I'd get it done and all before my four-oh-clock class too!**

**Alright then people, so Jez is getting a bit violent with the bad guys isn't she? And we have a new main character (the last of this story as well), Aria Charolette! Who likes her and who doesn't? Well, you don't know much about her yet, so it's hard to decide. We get to meet cute little Mattie again (squeal!) and Casey might have a funny new relationship with our new character? Anyone wanna put money down on the fact that they could become a couple? I would! But I'm the author, that's not fair!**

**So anyway you guys, I'll see you next week with another chapter, so please remember to Review and send in Questions for this one! I love you all and I'll see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	7. Facing Brawly in the Dark

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 7: Facing Brawly in the Dark_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Aria and I spent the rest of that day traveling back to my father's place back in Petalburg. He was ecstatic to see me and see that I had another friend with me, and a way of communicating with him and all my friends. He had recently bought one for himself and was planning on getting me one too, but had yet to get it, so this worked out pretty well.

My father was nice enough to cook for us that night, and Aria had a blast asking my dad questions as if she was really a reporter. She said it was training for in the future and she asked my dad to give her a rating of how well she did with her questions. He said she did fine, but she needed to be able to go a little deeper for more information at times, but not push the envelope, start reading people's body language and what not. She took the information to heart and then asked me to work with her for a small portion of the night.

It wasn't as bad as I thought, but it took _forever_, or so it seemed. It only really lasted, like, half an hour.

That morning I made pancakes for everyone and Aria was just as animalistic as Dad and Casey were, but it was still my pokemon that somehow got the last bite it seemed. Not that I could blame anyone though, those pancakes I figured out how to make are pretty damn good.

Once we were settled with breakfast and what not, Aria and I said our good-byes to my father and took off to the outside of Petalburg where Mr. Jones lived and where he could give us a ride over to Dewford Town and Slateport City.

When we arrived up at Mr. Jones' house, I was shocked to see that the man was in a fierce chasing contest with his wingull that seemed to be flying just out of his reach. He seemed to be wrecking his house at the very same time while the pokemon was enjoying the fun.

"Wasn't quite expecting this…"

"…Wow… I really don't know what to say to this…"

Aria and I both shook our heads as we watched the scene and the clouds of dust rising into the air as the two of them went at it.

"Oi! Lassie!" Mr. Jones dropped the chair that he had a hold of and left it where he was standing on top of the table. "Yee here for a ride with yer friend?"

"Yes sir, to Dewford please." I opened the brief case I was given and showed him the letter I had. "I need to deliver this to Steven Stone and both Aria and I need to battle the gym leader there. Then we'll probably stay there for the night before we'll head out the next day to Slateport, is that okay Mr. Jones?"

"Not a problem Lassie!" The older man grinned. "Peeko and I will stay on me old boat and yee lassies just let me know when ye want ta ride again!" The bird then decided its fun was over and landed on the older man's shoulder with a sigh. He didn't look too happy that his fun was ended with teasing the captain to destroy his house.

Mr. Jones then led us out of his small cottage like house on the water and showed us his small boat that would be big enough for all of us. It was white in color and had a closed in section for the captain to drive his boat and a small seating area for other passengers. There was also a section on the back where we could sit in some plastic chairs. An antenna hung on the top of the ship, silver in color, which was unmoving under the wind.

The man stepped out onto the boat first and was kind enough to help us onto it as well. Aria and I took a place to sit inside the boat's small cabin while Mr. Jones started her up and pulled out of his dock. We were soon on our way to Dewford.

HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch

"So hey, Jez," Aria called my attention to her while we were out on the water. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I leaned into my hand and relaxed a bit while looking at her. "What's up?"

"When we were talking yesterday, you mentioned how you wanted to help people. You said it was because no one helped you when you were younger." For the first time since I met the girl, she looked nervous. She dared to look at me. "What did you mean by that?"

I sighed and looked down at the table. "…It's a long story Aria…"

"I think we have the time." She pushed her hand into my line of vision and she then forced me to follow that hand back so I was looking at her again. "That is… if you don't mind telling me?"

"Well… if you don't mind listening to my boring life." I shifted my shoulders and cracked them in the hopes of calming me down from telling another of my friends about my past.

It didn't help.

"It started a long time ago Aria, probably even before I was born was when it started…"

"What started exactly?"

"The fighting." A single answer was all I had to get to grab her attention. "Arguing… most of my family never got along, my mother and father, my uncles, my aunts, and my cousins. None of them could get along with each other. My mother hogged me from everyone else, and it became more… evident as the years flew by."

"But your mother loved you, right?" Aria questioned. "How did that hurt you?"

"It's because she wouldn't let others get closer to me, human or pokemon. I grew up alone, most of the time running away to try and make any sort of relationships I could with others before my mother would lock me away again. I know it's hard to understand, but even when I was finally together with my family… I felt… isolated. It felt like my mother was still watching me, still making sure that no one got super close to me. It's why I kept running away from her…" I clenched my fist and slammed it on the table. "Why I'm _still_ running away from her and I'll kept running as long as I have to."

"And this is why you want to help others?" Aria worriedly looked at me as she had flinched back from my anger. "To make sure they don't suffer like you did."

"Yeah…" I settled down a bit and felt my pokemon release themselves from their pokeballs to comfort me. "Because if it wasn't for those friends that I actually made when I ran away…" I felt a tear escape from my eye. "I probably would have ended up just as insane as my mother…"

**Mystery Person Point of View: **

"No way! Do you think, dude?"

"It can't be… I mean, this may be a popular tourist spot, but why would they be here?"

"Oh my Latias! They're so hot!"

"I wonder if any of them are single?"

Many voices of shock and surprise floated along the beach of Dewford that all looked down to the four bodies that were soaking up some sun rays, and at another three that were just a bit further down in water. The person that most people questioned was here was the eldest female, who in a black bikini had captured the entire crowd of males, and they would have talked to her by this point, if it wasn't for her boyfriend who was possessively lying beside her.

The same situation seemed to be with the other two that were napping on the beach, or just relaxing. The girl, in a bright pink bikini had curled into the side of the male next to her that kept her in place with his arm. Both of the males would look angrily back at the crowds to see that they were still watching, and growled when they did.

"Hon, relax a bit," the girl in the black bikini said. She stretched her arms over her head and turned to look at the male next to her. "Getting mad about them being there is not going to help them go away. If we don't do anything, they'll get bored in time."

Her boyfriend sighed. "I know Vi…" The older male shook his head. "I just get sick of looking at all of them; don't they have something else to do or somewhere else to be?"

"They're looking at seven famous people on their beach at one time and have no idea if it's really us or not," the other girl said. She sat up and tilted down her sunglasses so the older male could see her eyes. "I know it's hard, but we accepted this when we became famous and became champions and gym leaders and part of the IPHP League."

"Yeah, yeah… I know… I just never imagined this would happen to us…"

"It was bound to happen in time, Alex." Vi, the older girl, kissed Alex's cheek and smiled at him.

Squealing could be heard down on the beach from the youngest of the females down in the water with two older males watching over her and playing with her at the same time. The younger girl however was being cruel at the moment as the boys tried to catch her. She was using her psychic powers to levitate herself over the water, and while the boys did splash a lot to hide that fact, she used this to her advantage to not be caught by them. "Come on Levy!" one of the older males said. "It's about time to head back in for a bit and get something to eat! It's almost one!"

"But Vince! I don't wanna!"

"The water isn't going to go anywhere Levy." The other male down there with her quickly grabbed her and picked her up into his arms. "Come on now, it's time to eat. You haven't had anything to eat since eight this morning and that wasn't a lot at that."

"Yes Aaron…" the younger girl sighed, but obeyed and allowed for the older male to bring her back toward the others.

Back up on the sand, soaking up the sun, Vi, the eldest girl, had suddenly risen her head from off the sand and looked strangely over at the ocean. She sat up, which startled her partner next to her, who looked up at her in question. She looked out onto the water with wide eyes.

"Vi?" Alex questioned her. "What is it?"

She didn't respond.

The girl continued to look out onto the water and strained to see what was out there that she felt.

_What is this feeling? It reminds me of when I first met Gwyn… is there another trainer in this region that has the same strength and potential that she had back as a beginning trainer?_

Violet watched as a small boat sped by the beach they were on and suddenly the feeling left.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Mr. Jones finally pulled into Dewford a few hours later after our departure from Petalburg. It was a beautiful landscape of the small island town. It was a beautiful resort area for people to get away at. Water parks were here as well as hotels, not to mention the Dewford gym, which seemed to be right on the edge of the island as well, right on an inlet. I also could see the small string of caves off to the west side of the island that we'd need to go to in order to deliver the letter to Steven Stone.

I turned back to our ferry man. "Thank you so much for the lift, Mr. Jones."

"Not a problem Lass!" He grinned at us. "Me and Peeko'll wait here for ye and yer friend before we head ta Slateport!"

"Thanks!" Aria and I then left the port where Mr. Jones had pulled into and we quickly turned to our right to head to the west side of the island and get inside the Granite Cave.

On our way there, we had to pass by entrances to many resorts, public beaches and theme parks. It was hard to get through the entire crowds since they were so massive in size, but Aria and I seemed to manage by holding onto each other's hands so as not to lose each other in the crowds. There was actually a beach that was surprisingly crowded, but only on the edge of it. I blinked at that in surprise and through small holes you could see through the crowd, I was shocked to see that only seven people were actually on the beach, but it seemed that everyone seemed to have their eyes on them.

"Are those people taking up the entire beach?" I whispered over to Aria.

"I don't think so, it's probably some famous people that everyone's gawking at," the girl replied as we continued to slowly make our way through the crowd. "This place _is_ famous for its relaxing resorts, I wouldn't surprise me if famous people were here, but to be this out in public and have this many people gawking at them… that's a bit more strange then even I'm used to."

"Maybe it's because of whoever is on the beach?"

"Probably, but I can't think right now of who that would be." Her eyes then got glossed over again as she nearly squealed and jumped out of my grip. "Besides, I get to meet Steven Stone! Oh he's so dreamy and into steel type pokemon!" The girl began to fan herself. "Not to mention that he's also the son of a legendary company in this region! Oh just getting the chance to meet him makes me want to melt!"

"Easy there, Aria," I couldn't help but laugh at her. "If you drool all over him he'll never want to talk to you again."

The girl pouted at me, huffing and turning away her head. I snorted a laugh and continued to pull her along, finally past the crowd and toward the cave.

**Violet's Point of View:**

I whipped my heard around back at the crowd when I felt that feeling of power in the air. _I was right! There is another trainer like us!_

"Violet?" I glanced back over at Gwyn who had noticed me look back as well, but she had the same facial expression that I had, maybe she felt it too. "Did you… feel that?"

"That powerful feeling?" I questioned her. She nodded her head slowly and I nodded back once. "Yeah, I think it went toward the caves."

"I can't believe that there's someone else like us out here. Does that mean we're going to go and meet them?"

"Well, since my instincts pointed to you all that time ago, and you turned out alright, I'd say we should give this one a chance." I grunted as I heaved myself up off my blanket that Alex and I were sharing. I heard people the cry out in surprise when they saw my tattoo of the IPHP League on my chest, right over my heart. They began to shout and scream.

"It really is Champion Violet Vilmos! And that must be Champion Gwyn Jalen!"

"Oh my Latios! They really here in Hoenn!"

"Please! I want your autograph!"

"Go out on a date with me!"

"You're my hero!"

Those were only a few of the shouts of the people that quickly surrounded us. In a mad dash we grabbed all of our things before we flew up into the air, using our changeling abilities, and hurried to the caves to the west. Many of the others sighed once they got into the air, though out of everyone, only Levy seemed to be the one unhappy about leaving.

"I didn't get to have any more fun in the water…" she sulked and curled into Aaron who held her. He sighed and looked over to me for a bit of help.

"I'm sorry about that Levy, look, here's what we're going to do so you can have some more fun on the beach and relax a bit." She looked up at me with a hopeful look in her eyes that meant she would go back to having some fun. "Gwyn and I need to check something out in this cave here, so you and all the boys can head over to one of those abandoned islands right next to Slateport so no one will really bother you, you can have some more fun, and you and the boys will be closer to Slateport for when that delivery of parts comes in so we can keep out Team Aqua and Team Magma."

"And also keep out an eye for our old friend Rosie," Gwyn huffed angrily as she thought of traveling through the path of the bloodthirsty woman.

I patted her arm. "Don't worry Gwyn, we'll get her, I know she's here in this region, somewhere."

"How long do you think you'll be?" Alex glided over to me and slid an arm around my lower back.

"Hopefully no longer then a few hours." I kissed his cheek. "We'll try to meet up with you before supper time."

"If we end up being later than that, don't wait up for us, but we'll try to call you." Gwyn gave a kiss to her own boyfriend and a hug to Aaron and Levy before she flew up by my side.

"Let's go. We have a trainer to find." Gwyn and I dived down at the set of caves below and landed on the rocks, quickly releasing the power of our changeling forms and crawling inside.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Aria and I made it to the cave a short while ago, and it took us all but two seconds to see that this cave was a natural maze that went into the deep underground to where we'd have a hard time seeing. It was with the help of Blaze, who was kind enough to light a fire on an old piece of wood he found, that we were able to light our way as we traveled through the dark set of caves.

Aria stuck close by holding onto me once more, her hands lightly grasped at my shirt since there was only so much light that this small torch provided us. Aria would squeal in fright every now and then and duck behind me, pulling me to a stop, only to realize it was a small pokemon she couldn't see. I worriedly looked back at the girl in question.

"Are you all right, Aria?"

"Yeah… so-sorry about this Jez…" Her voice was shaky; even I could tell that in the short time that I'd known her. She was _never_ like this. "My bro-others were always jerks when I was li-little and used to scare me in the dark. I… I still can't get over my fear…!"

"Hey, don't worry about it," I turned to look at the girl and pulled her next to me. "Just don't look around you except at me. I'll make sure we keep going where we need to; just keep talking to me and focus on me, okay?"

"Yeah… but what do y-you want me to say?"

"Tell me about your family," I answered her and I tugged her gently along the cold cave path. "Tell me about what inspired you to become a trainer and also become a reporter. What drives you?"

"My family… I have a father and t-two older brothers…" She smiled as she thought of them. "My dad was always really sweet. He ha-had to take over everything after my mom passed when I was seven. When Mother's Day came along, I gave anything I made for mom, to him, and he then took and put it with things in this small shrine he made for her a long time ago."

I breathed out a pained sigh. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Aria shook her head in the dim lighting. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to not having her around." She smiled again as I could see her eyes cloud over as she looked into her memories. "My dad used to always say how much I was like her. How much he could see her whenever he looked at me as I grew up…"

"What about your brothers?" I asked to try and keep the conversation going so she wouldn't think of the darkness around us.

"My brothers…? Oh what's there _not_ to tell about them?" She laughed lightly at that and shook her head. "Max and Mike are their names. They were my twin older brothers. They were identical twins to make it even weirder. They were always together. They were always pulling pranks and spending a lot of their time with me to make sure I had a good upbringing. Since Mom was gone and Dad had to pick up a lot of work and take extra shifts, my brothers ended up actually getting jobs early on to help Dad out and would normally look after me, at least… until I left and became a trainer, which was recently."

"Where do your brothers work?" I questioned her. "Do they have dreams like you did and want to go into being a reporter or a journalist?"

"Both of them became journalists over at the Rustboro Times. It helps pay the bills and that's where we all lived, well, that was before I became a trainer. I mean… I can still go back there, but I need to accomplish my dream first."

"Becoming a legendary reporter, right?"

"Yeah… it was my mom's dream… back when she was alive." She laughed lightly at that. "I mean, I always wanted to be a reporter, so did my brothers since we saw how much my mother fell in love with it and how hard she worked at giving true and real stories that seemed to bring in a pretty penny. When she… died… I guess it was then that I realized I wanted to be the best and become a legendary reporter so that I could sell my works to the world and work just as hard as my mother had, to honor her, you know?"

I couldn't help but give her a soft smile at what she had decided for herself. "That's amazing Aria. It's wonderful that you had a dream like that."

"Yeah… but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me how you came up with your dream!" A bit of her cheery nature showed through when she grabbed my arm and held it in her own arms to keep herself attached to me. "Tell me why you decided to become a pokemon champion!"

"Are you sure you really want to hear that? It's just about as depressing as the rest of my life story."

"We have nothing better to do, Jez." The girl sighed for a moment before she had glanced to the side and saw something move. I'd seen it too, but I didn't say a word as to keep her a bit calmer. "Did you see that?"

"Aria, relax, I'm right here." I snapped my fingers of my free hand before her face. "Remember what I said."

"Ri-right…"

"Here, I'll talk so you won't pay attention to… out there… okay?"

"O-okay…"

"All right, so as you know, when I was younger I used to run away all the time from my mother, and during that time that I ran away from her, I'd run into wild pokemon that I'd make friends with. You with me so far, Aria?"

"Yeah… I-I'm with you…"

"Alright then, just checking." I sighed and made sure the girl's eyes were on me before I looked back to keeping us both on the path below my feet. "Anyway, when I'd meet up with those pokemon, they became some of the best and only friends I had, ones that I valued so much in life. I was never strong enough to protect them from my mother… I wasn't strong at all…" I hissed out at this. "I sucked!"

"What does t-that have to do w-with your dream?"

"I vowed to every single one of them that I'd become stronger." I felt my blood boil and my adrenaline run at that statement. "I promised them that I'd become strong with them so I didn't have to run from my mother anymore and we could be together, forever. I want to be the champion to help people and to be able to stay with my pokemon… together… forever…"

"That sounds really nice Jez, it's a really good dream, and you have a fire to fuel you."

She squinted for a moment before I felt the girl pull herself from my arms. "Is that light?"

Sure enough, the girl was pointing to a small section before us that went somewhat upwards. It bright and shining almost like a glittering diamond. I could see the wide grin appear on the girl's face as she took off toward it and managed to put herself in the rays of sun that reached between the rocks here as she made it to the upward slope we had to climb.

"Wait, how did we get here so fast Jez?" The girl turned around quickly to face me and question. "Did you know the way?"

"This was another place my mother moved me to when I was younger, on the island for some rest and relaxation, and to get me away from my father." I sighed and groaned at the memories. "I used to come down here and vent out my frustrations here in the cave where I could scream and no one could hear me. Not to mention that I also used to explore here, so I have the path memorized."

"Damn girl…" she sort of chuckled when she did that. "What place haven't you been to in this region?"

"Good question… probably the only place would be Evergrande City, where the Pokѐmon League is… and some places on the water routes surrounding there."

"Oh wow…"

"Anyway Aria," I smirked at her, "I thought you wanted to get through this cave, meet Steven Stone, and get your second gym badge?"

The girl squealed and took off running toward the light.

"That girl…" I only could shake my head as I followed after her. She took off into the light where her true colors seemed to shine and she became lively and unafraid again.

"Jez!" I heard her cry out. "I found him! Oh my Latias! I found him!"

"Calm down girl." Once I came to the top step, I reached out and grabbed her before she could pull away from me and hound the poor man and blow out the flame on my torch should we need it again when we traveled back through. The man we spoke of was actually looking back at us in question. He had soft silver hair was more gathered on one side rather than the other. His complexion was a pale white, which went well with his steel colored eyes. He was dressed in (strangely enough) dark black pants and black shirt with a small tie or some type of material that showed up at the top of his shirt. Over that he seemed to have a dark purple vest that was closed over the shirt and black shoes.

Not the type of clothes that I would have expected someone in this section of the region to wear, or anywhere in this region…

"Can I help you?" the man questioned us as he stood up from where he was hunched over a small area of rocks.

"Sorry if we disturbed you, Steven, but I have a letter from your father for you." I released Aria and she stared in wonder at the male as I approached him and opened the brief case long enough to take the letter out of it and hand it over to him.

"…My father sent young trainers to deliver me a letter?"

"Team Aqua and Team Magma have been after these plans from the company so many times he needed a creative and different person to take them." I couldn't help but chuckle. "Team Aqua doesn't exactly like the way I beat up their members, so he asked me to do this for him."

Steven was silent for a moment and began reading his letter while I heard a squeal and I turned to see Aria looking at a small pokemon that looked like it had steel all over its body with patches of silver and black along with bright blue eyes.

"Jez! Look at this pokemon! Isn't it cute?"

"Yes Aria, I'll be there in a minute, if it doesn't belong to Steven, you can capture it then." She squealed again and got into a stance while I sighed and turned back to Steven. "Sorry about her, she has a high energy level."

"So I've noticed." He closed the letter he was reading and placed it away in his bag. "It certainly _is_ a letter from my father, thank you for bringing it to me. Here," Steven reached into his bag and pulled out a strange stone that even I had never seen before. It was a bright sky blue in color and seemed to have a white core that shined out into to the rest of it. It glowed lightly in the dark and provided almost a light source. "This is a stone that I've recently discovered. I already have a couple in my possession to research, but I feel that it would be a decent gift for all the trouble you've probably gone through to bring me this letter from my father."

"It wasn't any trouble, but thank you for the stone." I gently took the stone from his hands and I could feel the power that was flowing through it. It was incredible.

"I've seen this stone evolve only two pokemon so far, which was a kirlia and a snorunt. Based on the information I've gathered, these strange stones aren't normally found in this region, but another called Sinnoh, which makes their evolutions also indigenous to that region as well. You may not be able to get the information on them until you get a national pokedex or meet up with someone who has one."

"So Blade could evolve with this…"

"Possibly. What pokemon do you have?"

"A combusken, a kirlia and a beautifly."

"I'm guessing from the name that your kirlia is male?"

"Yeah, he doesn't like the form that he's in right now; he just evolved at our first gym battle in Rustboro."

"Then it would be possible for him to use this stone to evolve. It seems that only male kirlia and female snorunt react to the stone. Not really sure why…" he paused for a moment, rubbing his head at that. "But another thing- this stone has incredible power in it. It's possible to evolve more than one pokemon with this stone before it runs out of power."

"That's pretty cool… thanks Steven."

"No thank you, and may I ask for your name?" He shook my hand as he asked. "I don't believe I heard it yet."

"I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain."

"Well then, Jezebel, thank you for the letter, and now I must get going." He released my hand and took off toward another pathway. "A fair warning to you though- the pokemon in here sometimes get restless around this time of day when trainers come here since most of them are nocturnal. You'd best get out of here before they stampede."

"Stampede?" I blinked from shock and prepared to question the man… if it wasn't for the fact that he had already gone…

_He could have at least given me a bit more warning…_

"Aww! Steven left!" Aria soon came back to my side with the strange little iron like pokemon that she'd laid eyes on. "Isn't she cute Jez? I caught her while you guys were talking."

I quickly pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the small Pokemon. _Aron, the iron armor pokemon. A pokemon that is clad in steel armor. A new suit of armor is made when it evolves. The old, discarded armor is salvaged as metal for making iron products. It eats iron to build its steel body. It's a pest that descends from mountains to eat bridges and train tracks. Aaron tend to be common within the Granite Cave and the Victory Road._

It was at that moment that the pokemon shied away from me and we felt a bit of a rumble from the ground. Aria pulled the pokemon back into its pokeball and grabbed onto me to stay standing.

"What's going on Jez?" She screamed when a rock landed next to us.

"Damn, this is what Steven meant!" I tugged on the girl's arm to lead her back down the way we came with the dawn stone in hand as our only light. "Run!"

The girl leapt into action and jumped just as I tugged on her arm and dashed back into the caves. By the light of the stone I carried, I was able to lead us back most of the way before I could actually see the physical bodies behind us. I had no spare moment to call out a pokemon, and Aria was too stunned by the situation.

"So this is where that trainer ended up."

I whirled my heard around as I heard a voice of another female.

"And it's a girl too Vi. Kind of reminds me of when we first met and Amber took out that flock of pidgey and hoothoot."

_Another voice?_ I kept looking for them and suddenly they ended up right in front of us. I slammed into the taller of the females that was only wearing a black bikini, which I could hardly see in this dim lighting or what light I had from the dawn stone. Aria slammed into the other girl and was freaking out because of the dark.

"Well then, let's settle this problem, shall we?" The woman that was next to me grinned and held me close while she pulled out a pokeball. "Take them out Ruby! Fury cutter!"

Within the dark, I heard a pokemon reveal itself from its pokeball and I could see nothing, but heard the cries of countless pokemon who were attacked by this pokemon and knocked out of their stampede. The cave quickly settled down and all was quiet, all except for my heartbeat, which I felt was off the charts. My breathing was labored, a bit frightened from the incredibly fast adrenaline rush that was running from head to toe.

"Wow… Ruby still seems a bit stressed, that hardly seemed like a work out to her," the second woman, in a pink bikini, calmly noted.

"Yeah, Amethyst will help cure her of that later," the woman who helped me said. "In the meantime, let's get these girls outside. I'm sure being out of these caves might make them a bit more comfortable enough for a real conversation than here in the caves."

"Sounds good to me. It's a bit chilly in here." I could hear chattering of her teeth. "Man… this place is freezing! I wanna go back out into the sun Vi!"

"Alright, alright! We're going!" The older woman sighed and reached around my body to pull me along with her as she walked along the dark path. "Damn girl… I know it's cold for you, but still! I'm just as cold as you are! Why don't you use some of Cynder's fire to heat you up?"

"…I actually didn't think of that…"

The older woman slapped her forehead. "Oh my…! For Mew's sake Gwyn!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Who the hell are you people?" I roughly pulled from the hold I was in and stumbled back a bit in the dark cave with my only light still being the dawn stone.

I heard the older woman sigh. "Well if you come outside with us, we'll tell you and show you."

"How do I know that you're not going to kidnap us afterwards?" Damn… these women were strong. Even _I_ knew my pokemon wouldn't be able to handle them, not at the low level we were. Of course I'd still try… but Aria could get hurt, and I can't get a read on them…

"Honey, chill." The older woman sighed. "How about this then? You lead us out of the cave the way you want to and then we'll talk, because from outside the cave, you could instantly catch someone's attention _if_ we ever did anything to you. Okay?"

I slowly nodded my head at that. "Fine… and give me back my friend."

"Gwyn." The younger of the two women nodded and gently released Aria, who quickly backed up and latched onto my arm.

"Lead the way." I slowly turned my back on the two women and turned back onto the path that would take only a few moments to lead us out, since we'd run so far from that random stampede.

"Keep an eye on them Aria, I don't trust them."

"I don't know, Jez. Something about them seems familiar…"

"Please, Aria, at least until we're out of the cave and can see who they really are. I can't see a damn thing in this lighting." I gave the girl a look. "Not to mention that you'll be better off once we're outside of this cave as well."

"O-okay…"

It wasn't a few moments later that we finally arrived out of the cave the same way that Aria and I had made it inside. Aria seemed to instantly calm and regain some of her cheeriness once we stepped out of the dark and into the bright daylight. I then whipped my head around to face the two women who had saved us and made me feel a small bit uneasy since we didn't know who they were, but one look at the two of them and I was dumbfounded.

"Fuck…" It was the only word that found its way out of my mouth.

The older woman raised an eyebrow at me. "Never been greeted like that before."

The younger woman giggled and tried to hide it behind a hand. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, and this girl is just full of surprises!"

"Champions…?" Aria questioned in shock. "We were saved by the champions of Kanto and Johto?"

The older girl then grinned at us. "Yep!"

The older of the two girls I could now see clearly had a rich, dark colored hair that was in many curls with highlights of a vibrant purple color. Her eyes were a rich chocolate brown and her tanned body was only covered in a black bikini. A tattoo was on her chest that featured the newly popular group made up of many powerful trainers that came from overseas, the IPHP League.

I was facing Violet Vilmos, champion of the Kanto region and also the head of the IPHP League.

The other of the two was a bit smaller and had a vibrantly dark blue hair with sky blue highlights in it. She had a set of beautiful crystal like eyes and, while her skin was a bit whiter then Violet's, she still harbored a pale pink bikini on her body. The same tattoo of the IPHP League was on the back of her right hand.

The other girl was Gwyn Jalen, champion of the Johto region and a member of Violet's IPHP League.

Both girls were standing before us with different expressions, waiting for us to comment.

"Wow!" Aria finally came to her senses and jumped to hug the two of them. "Oh my Latias… I never thought I'd actually see you two in person _ever_ in my life!"

"Well I guess you can say you have now." Violet grinned. "Sorry if we startled the two of you. Just through we'd step in and give a helping hand." The older woman laughed at that comment. "It honestly reminds me of when I first met Gwyn. Her starter, Cynder, had caused an entire flock of hoothoot and pidgey back in Johto to chase them and I ended up having another one of my pokemon fry all their asses!"

"Vi!" Gwyn snapped and stomped her foot in the sand. "They didn't need to know that!"

"Of course they did, small talk makes making friends and allies much easier, dear Gwyn." She turned back to me and grinned. "Hon, I don't think you know this, but you're putting out a shit load of power, and I can feel it from a pretty good distance away."

I gave her a questioning look. "What are you talking about?"

She sighed in a huff. "What I mean is that you have a shit load of potential girl, just as much as back when I first met Gwyn, I could feel it then with her as well."

"In another sense of what she's trying to explain," Gwyn intruded and took over the conversation. "What Violet's basically saying you have the potential to becoming an amazing trainer so long as you stick the way you've been doing things thus far."

"Oh, okay…"

"And I can feel power from your friend too." Violet pointed over at Aria. "Not quite as much as yourself, but a good shit load of it's there."

Gwyn turned angrily to her mentor. "You seem to be quite attached that word today, the equivalent of a dump."

Violet grinned back at her. "Honey, while I respect the fact that you don't like to swear, and I highly respect that, I am my own woman and I don't fucking care if you snap at me." She shrugged. "But hey, at least I controlled myself around Levy."

"You could infect them with your swearing habits!"

"Already swear, thank you very fucking much." I grinned as I watched Gwyn squirm.

"Sorry, me fucking too." Aria grinned from behind my shoulder.

"Oh I love you girls _so_ much!" Violet laughed and hugged the two of us. "Would you mind actually if I got to know you girls and what you're doing out here though? Other than training, this seems hardly like a place anyone would want to go into."

"I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain and this is my friend Aria Charolette." Aria grinned at them. "We're trainers that both have our own dreams and came here so we could give a letter to Steven Stone." I showed them the brief case on me. "You see, Mr. Stone, the head of Devon Corp., asked me to take his special parts and plans to Slateport for him because of all the activity of Team Aqua and Team Magma lately. Granted I've never seen Team Magma, but I've run into Team Aqua a few times. I've been able to best them pretty easily."

"Well no wonder you got sent out here!" Violet laughed. "I guess we'll be seeing you again too Hon!"

"What do you mean by that?" I crossed my arms at her.

"Mr. Stone hired us to watch over the project in Slateport while we waited for those parts to arrive." Her grin only got wider. "So we'll be seeing you there as well when you take the part to Captain Stern. He's head of the project. We'll meet you over there again when you arrive at the docks. That'll be where you drop off the parts and hopefully we won't have to deal with either of those two shit faced teams that want to try and do whatever they damn well please."

"Violet…" Gwyn warned the older woman.

"Yeah, yeah Gwyn, 'don't swear', 'it's not good for you', I get it!"

I snorted a laugh at that, which I tried to hide behind my hand. Gwyn whipped around at me and glared. "What's so funny?"

"You, that's what." Violet, Aria and I burst into laughter in the next second once my comment was out. Gwyn continued to scowl while we held onto each other to stay up and on our feet.

"Ugg!" She screeched and stomped off to the side. "I can't believe you had to be the trainer that we sensed had all this power!"

"Gwyn relax!" Violet put a hand quickly on the fuming woman's shoulder. "We're just teasing you!"

The woman took a moment to simmer down, but at some point after her minor explosion, she calmed down to the point of at least _trying_ to have a conversation with us. "Sorry about that, as I'm sure you can tell… I don't like swearing all that much…"

"Duly noted." Aria snickered behind me as I spoke, but Gwyn somehow was able to keep her cool this time. It was so funny to annoy her! And apparently Violet liked doing this too!

"Well ladies, as much as I'd love to stick around and what not, we're going to have to be getting going, I promised Alex we'd meet up with him and the others earlier on, but as you can see, that hasn't exactly happened." The woman held out her hand. "You guys got pokenavs? Let me put my number and Gwyn's into your phones, just in the instance you guys wanna talk or if you need a helping hand, by any meaning of that phrase."

"Cool!" Aria readily handed hers over and I pulled out mine as well. The girls quickly swiped our phones and put their numbers in them before handing them back. "And do you guys want our numbers?"

"Of course, but with us rushing off, we don't have them on us, so we'll write down your numbers on our hands until we get back to our pokenavs." Violet held out her hand to us. "You girls have a pen or something to write with?"

"I got one!" Aria quickly whipped out a ballpoint pen and handed it to them, and with our numbers quickly written down on their hands, they handed back the pen and I suddenly saw large wings suddenly appear out of their backs or arms.

"We'll be seeing you then girls, and don't be afraid to contact us. We'll meet you over in Slateport!" The two of them took off and in an instant seemed to vanish in the sky as they flew away. They looked nothing more than like flocking birds before they totally vanished.

"Well that's one thing down, and a couple new numbers added to our phones." I stretched and began to walk back toward town. "Come on, Aria, let's go and get our gym badges. I call first dibs on the gym leader!"

"Aww Jez! No fair!" The girl ran after me and we made quick work to hurry back to town and get our next gym badge.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch **

Aria and I were relieved to find out that the gym was still open when we arrived back at town. In fact, the gym would be open for a few more hours, which gave both of us just enough time to battle the gym leader and get our badges. The light was still on, so we both had rushed in, but I was having the first battle. I called it and Aria had given up on me relenting when I told her I'd leave her ass here on the island in the middle of the night.  
Once I stepped inside, I saw it was a wide open and regular battlefield with no added water or rocks or anything special to help out the gym leader, which generally meant he was a fighting type gym or a normal type one, but from the information that I gathered about the gym leader before we got here, he was a fighting type one. The gym leader was named Brawly Austin and had a policy for using three pokemon in this battle, which was perfect since I had just enough to battle him. When I talked with the others earlier, Silky was going to get to battle first since she had to miss out on the first gym battle. After her would be Blade, who was eager to get stronger and try out using that stone I got to evolve him later. Last was Blaze, who didn't mind so long as he got a good pokemon to battle against.

"Hey! You finally showed up!" I blinked and looked down on the other side of the field as a man showed up through the back door. He was dressed in an orange shirt and blue shorts with water proof sneakers as if he was just about ready to hit some waves. Light blue hair was spiked up on his head that contrasted with his Caucasian skin. Dark or onyx eyes finished his look, which I had gathered as he made his way over to us and shook my hand readily.

"Hello," I calmly replied back to him.

"'Bout time you got here! Once I got word from Roxanne that you were coming and I saw the footage from your last battle, man oh man did I want to battle you!" The man grinned wildly at me and Aria. "I'm the gym leader here, Brawly, and you, Jezebel, are my next opponent."

"I can be right after her, right?" Aria questioned behind me.

Brawly turned to look at her as if he hadn't noticed her at all. "Oh, sorry about that, girly, I was so focused on my battle with Jez that I didn't even see you. Sure, I'll battle you right after- you're Aria, right?"

"Yes!" Aria perked up a bit when he remembered her name from when Roxanne must have told him.

"Shall we begin out battle then?" I raised the briefcase that was in my hand. "I need to deliver this tomorrow, so we need to finish with our work here as fast as we can to get the rest we need in the pokemon center and deliver these parts to Slateport and keep Team Aqua and Team Magma's hands off of them. Sound okay?"

"Sounds fine to me! Long as I get to battle a rising star like the two of you are!" Brawly grinned before he rushed back to his side of the field and pulled out a pokeball. "Alright then, three pokemon each, and let's see how you handle my tough guys! Let's go Machop!"

Out from his pokeball came the small human looking like pokemon with pale bluish green skin, red eyes and strange accents on its head that looked like hair along with a small tail. It smirked at me, seeing me possibly as a female challenger could be easy, in its head anyway. I shook my head at its look and pulled out Silky's pokeball.

"Let's go girl!" Silky soon emerged herself from her pokeball and cried out once she got onto the field. Sparkles emerged from her body upon release and Silky took the air, crying out as she fluttered and stretched her newly grown wings.

"A bug pokemon?" Brawly blinked at that, and his pokemon flat out laughed at Silky. It fell to the ground as it pointed at her and held its stomach in laughter while Silky flat out glared.

That didn't go over very well…

"Beau!" Silky suddenly threw a set of powerful gusts at fighting pokemon and it instantly stopped its laughter as the howling winds approached. I saw its fearful face as it saw the two merge into one large tornado and suck the pokemon up into it and powerful winds threw it around and cut it up. Silky was not pleased about being made fun of just because she was a bug type.

Blaze and Blade quickly released themselves from their pokeballs and laughed at the pitiful pokemon that dared to laugh at my Silky. Brawly was in pure shock as his first pokemon was dropped down and out of the tornado back at his feet with the gust of wind vanishing from sight and the air calming. Silky huffed and flew back over to me, seeing that the battle was over when the pokemon was on the ground and knocked out, and landed on my head. I could hear her huffing and growling under her breath as she glared to the man and his pokemon on the other side of the field.

"Whoa… that's a powerful bug pokemon…." Brawly rubbed the back of his head nervously as he saw that the battle was already a step in my favor, and I hadn't even told Silky what to do.

"Blade." My psychic type nodded to me and teleported himself out onto the field, ready to take the next battle.

"Alright! Then let's try this on for size! Go Meditite!" I saw another small humanoid fighting type come out and it was somewhat female looking with thin blue body that, for the most part, was all over it other than the hands, feet, a section of something over its lower abdomen that reminded me of underwear and its head which looked almost to have a short hairstyle of hair on top of it, but all the same color that was swirled like the top of a cupcake. Lipstick seemed to be on its lips from the bright red color. Wide eyes of onyx color and large circular ears finished it and I found myself really wondering "What the hell was this pokemon?"

I quickly pulled out my pokedex to find out the answer to that. _Meditite, the meditate pokemon. It continually meditates for hours every day. As a result of rigorous and dedicated yoga training, it has tempered its spiritual power so much it can fly. Meditite are common only in the locations of Mt. Pyre and the Victory Road._

I looked over at my psychic pokemon. "You ready then Blade? Let's get you stronger for you evolution and get you out of the girly form!"

I saw Blade flinch at that and he growled. _Oops…_

"Kirl!" His eyes glowed and I watched in shock as Blade merely was trying to test the waters with his opponent, but rather that opponent was sent flying up into the air and slammed its body into the ceiling before crashing down to the ground. The pokemon didn't even cry out, it was simply done with.

"Am I missing something here?" I blinked at the second pokemon down before me and looked over at Brawly. He looked like he'd just taken a shit so big that everyone could see and it reeked up the place.

"I guess I need to start training again with my pokemon…" Brawly let out a nervous laugh. "We've been hitting the waves a lot lately and haven't been practicing so much, but I've never met a challenger as massively powerful as you…"

"Well, doesn't matter, we're still here for our badge and might as well finish this up. Blaze! You're on!" Blade teleported himself back to my spot next and set himself at my side, still grumbling under his breath and Blaze then leapt out onto the field.

"Alright then, its time to try out the last of my pokemon and our tricks! Let's go Makuhita!" The last of Brawly's pokemon was a bit of a chubby pokemon that seemed to be entirely yellow with dark blue boxing gloves and a collar around its neck and stubby legs with larger arms. It had yellowish-orange cheeks and its hair was tied on the top of its head.

I pulled out my pokedex for the last of his pokemon. _Makuhita, the guts pokemon. It loves to toughen up its body above all else. If you hear quaking rumbles in a cave, it is the sound of makuhita undertaking strenuous training. It's a gutsy pokemon that can withstand any attack. Makuhita are quite common in the locations of the Granite Cave and the Victory Road._

_So that must have been a part of the reason for that damn stampede that Violet and Gwyn stopped earlier…_ I was startled from my thoughts when the place went dark and I could no longer see anything. I could barely see Blaze as he puffed out a bit of fire onto his features so I could see the glow of it to find him. Beyond him, a few feet away was the other pokemon which took a low blow by jumping quickly over and taking a dive for my pokemon's feet. Blaze was knocked over instantly.

"Now go in for karate chop!" The pokemon's arm came crashing down on my pokemon and Blaze cried out from the surprise hit, but for the part seemed to be unharmed by the hit.

"Again!" Brawly cried out almost desperately as he commanded his pokemon to continue the assault of powerful chops upon my pokemon. I just watched for a moment as Blaze easily took it with the will of a thousand souls.

"Blaze." My pokemon's arm quickly raised once he heard my command and grasped the opposing pokemon's arm. Once it was in his grip, he quickly used his other arm to scratch back at the pokemon, who ducked and rolled away from him.

"Take it out Blaze, double kick! Finish this battle!" My pokemon showed a grin then and leapt up into the air before swinging in the air for more momentum and thrusting his legs at the other pokemon. The first of them was dodged, but the second came around from above and knocked the pokemon back. It was shoved into the ground and rolled backwards from the hit as Blaze chased after it and threw his legs at the pokemon once more before the powerful legs of my pokemon threw the pokemon into the wall of the gym, just past Brawly's face.

Blaze then took a moment to land and catch his breath before he slowly walked over to the other side of the room. He lit up his feathers again with fire to show us the hole where the makuhita had landed. It was clearly knocked out for the count.

I couldn't help the large grin that appeared on my face. "I knew you guys could do it, nice job, all of you. We'll have a good dinner tonight in celebration." Most of the aggravated or displeased looks of my pokemon quickly changed in that moment as they were all happy for me to say that. Silky fluttered her wings above my head and small sparkles from her strange coloring and the powder on her wings glittered onto me. Blade happily took one of my hands into his own and Blaze blew out the fire in one of his hands before taking the other hand that was free.

"I guess I'm beat then… damn… I really let all our training go… the league probably isn't gonna like that if this keeps up." Brawly shook his head and slowly made his way over to me and my team after he'd returned his final pokemon. "I'm sorry I didn't put up more of a fight, I should have been better than this, but I guess we let the waves get in our way too much…"

"It's alright Brawly; you've learned your lesson, so it won't happen again." I shrugged at the man.

"You got it, but I still got to give you one last thing before you go Jez." The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge for me. It was a boxing glove made of a light blue color and a bit of red for the pocket for the thumb. "This here is the knuckle badge, and another badge for you to add to your stash. And Jezebel?" He placed the badge in my hands and closed them before looking at me seriously. "Thanks for teaching me that valuable lesson."

"No problem." I chuckled lightly and jerked my finger at an eager Aria. "Now you better go heal up your Pokemon. My friend's next, and she's going to be just as bad off as me."

"Joy..." the older man muttered, and that caused me to laugh with my team while the girl we spoke of snorted and turned her head.

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright! Another gym battle over and another gym badge in Jez's hands! Now we can move onto the next chapter and have some fun in another location! Did all of you guys love that Violet and Gwyn and the others have finally been introduced in the story? I know that some of you must be!**

**So I'll leave you guys to look over this chapter more and I'll get to work on the next one. So I love all of you my dear readers and please remember to Review and send in Questions!**

**See you guys next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	8. The Sunken Shipwreak

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 8: The Sunken Shipwreck _

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After staying at the gym and watching Aria then get her badge a short while later from the same gym leader I'd faced, whom she also had a fairly easy time defeating as well with her team of pokemon, we then headed to the pokemon center for a large feast and a good night's sleep for the next day that we'd spend heading over to Slateport to drop off the last of our goods from Devon Corp.

When the next morning came, it took a good long while to get Aria up, just mostly due to the fact that the girl was stubborn as all hell and just wouldn't do it. I left her for a little while longer as I got into a quick shower and helped my team get clean as well before I saw that the damn girl was still in bed. I finally said "screw it" and had Blaze throw her over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed when she realized what just happened and then 'nicely' went to get ready for the day.

I swear that girl was going to be the death of me.

Once we were all set and cleaned up our room, we gave back our room key to the Nurse Joy that was stationed in this area and headed back out to Mr. Jones' boat. He was already up and waiting for us when we arrived, chasing his bird around on the sandy beach.

"Oi! Lassies!" Mr. Jones finally noticed us and ended his chase again with Peeko to walk over to us. "Ima guessin' that ye lassies finished yer work here?"

"Yes sir. We'd like to head to Slateport now if you don't mind." It was still an early hour of only about six in the morning, which was normally pretty early for all of us, but since Aria and I had gone to bed early last night, it wasn't really that much of a problem, at least not for me.

"All right then, lassies! Load 'er up!" I grinned along with Aria and the two of us quickly stepped onto his boat and got situated inside his small dining room again while the smaller man got to work getting us ready to go. Our pokemon released themselves and cuddled around all of us as we prepared to take off and sat comfortably on us. Blaze and Blade sat comfortably next to me, on either side, and leaned into my sides. Silky landed herself on top of my head while Aria's small pokemon all sat around her happily. Her whismur sat in her lap while her beldum and aron were in the seat next to her.

"It is really nice being able to get around with Mr. Jones." Aria grinned as she pet the heads of her pokemon that slowly curled up and began to fall back into the realm of dreams.

"It is, and it's all thanks to kicking Team Aqua's asses." I grinned. "While they do piss me off with all the horrible deeds they normally perform, I find beating the crap out of them and their pokemon quite refreshing from time to time."

"Yeah, you do pretty awesome at that." Aria stretched her arms over her head and stood up for a moment. "You want a cup of tea or something Jez? It's a bit cold and I'm in need of one."

"Yeah, I'll take a cup." I watched her head down below. "Honey vanilla chamomile please!"

**Third Person Point of View:**

On another boat that wasn't far away from where Jezebel and Aria were, a set of three Team Aqua grunts were preparing for a small mission for an important item that would help in their quest. A small item called a 'scanner' was a device to locate certain anomalies on the ocean floor that won't be affected by the water, nor metals in the area unless programmed to.

"Alright then you grunts!" a commanding voice rang out in the hub of the small ship and a commander stepped out into the light that appeared female. A set of light blue pants and heels were on the lower half of her body while on the top half there was a black shirt that was cut off just as if it was just a bra while a sleeveless blue jacket was over that, which didn't button up, showing off her entire stomach. Vibrant red curls that held more of an orange hue and that were over three feet long cascaded down her back while a blue bandanna was on her head with the Team Aqua logo. "Let's go!"

A small group of grunts, the three that were going to do this mission, stepped before the woman and lightly bowed their heads to her.

"Your mission is to retrieve the scanner, a valuable piece of equipment that we'll need in finding the location of the legendary beast. It's located on the sunken ship only a mile or so from our current location. It should be visible to you from here." The grunts looked to see where the woman pointed to and saw the ship off in the distance. It was there, a horribly wrecked ship that had a large chunk of its hull out of its side and seemed to be held up only by the massive rocks that most likely crushed it. The ship looked to have been weathered and covered in rust, vegetation and whatnot.

"I can see it, Ma'am," one of the grunts responded to her. "How shall we go about our operation?"

"Obtain the scanner at any cost; those words came directly from our leader." The woman looked at the ship again and turned away from them. "Don't fail- more grunts have been failing recently and it's starting to set back our goals. Should you accomplish your mission, we'll be working our next operation over in Slateport to acquire the parts we apparently weren't able to get from Devon Corp, but were sent with a young girl and her companion to send us on the wrong track. We shall intercept them there."

"As you wish commander." The three grunts then quickly got suited up in scuba gear before diving off and into the water. The woman watched as the grunts soon vanished from sight and she sighed.

_Poor little girl. Hopefully those stupid grunts only give her a scare_, the woman thought as she withdrew herself back into the cabin and drove away. Another boat would be out later on once the grunts had completed their mission. If not, then they'd have to find another way back to the mainland.

But how hard was it to take a suitcase from a thirteen-year-old girl and her friend?

Very, apparently, if your name is Jezebel Emery-Twain.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Aria and I had made quick progress making it almost halfway to Slateport by now with the quick work of Mr. Jones and his ship, while Peeko didn't seem to be happy at all that for a second time I'd stolen his trainer away from him for a ride. But it wouldn't last much longer. Once I got to Slateport, Aria and I'd be there for quite a while, so Peeko could have all the time he wanted to spend with Briney Jones.

All of a sudden, a large ship came into view and I was surprised to see how run down it looked. I could see rust and molding on the side as we came closer to it. "SS Cactus" was its name on the side, but it was almost illegible.

"Oh that place looks so cool!" Aria gushed over the area with her pokemon that were all looking around. "Jez, do you think we can stop for a few minutes and just take a look on it?"

"I don't know Aria, we gotta get these parts-" I was cut off as we came quite close to the vessel and I actually saw someone trying to wave us in toward it. Actually, four someones, three males and a female to be precise. They waved their arms as if they had lost their minds and I could vaguely hear their yelling in the distance and just over the engine. Mr. Jones actually slowed down and looked over to them before looking at me.

"Oi lass, did ja want me to land? Them people want ye pretty bad."

"Okay, we'll stop and see what they want." Mr. Jones nodded and started to pull toward the old ship. "Sorry about this detour Mr. Jones."

"Eh, don't let it bother ya lass. I'll just play here with me friend Peeko until ye lassies come back." The bird that was perched on the man's shoulder seemed to have an eye glistening with wickedness as he looked at his human companion. I knew that bird was going to drive that man wild, but I wasn't about to get in the middle of it. I turned my head away before the girl saw me looking and gave me a hard time. I didn't really want to sic any of my team on him. In a way, he kinda was a friend.

Mr. Jones pulled his ship up to the abandoned one and I was surprised to see that the people we came up close to see were scientists, all with coats and what not, but were wearing boots for where they walked all over the sunken ship. Once we pulled up, the scientists quickly pulled us in. I was actually shocked to see them all reaching for the hand of mine that held the brief case. I ripped it from their fingers and climbed up onto the ship with the others and they backed up before me.

"Thank you so much for stopping!" One of the men said as he hurried out and reached for my other hand that didn't have the brief case and I gladly shook it. "You must be the girl that's delivering the parts to Slateport for Captain Stern."

"I am," I pulled my hand away. "I'm Jezebel. Is there something wrong?"

"Yes! We can't find the scanner!" The man sighed heavily before he pointed to himself. "I'm Captain Stern's assistant, Bryant Storm, and these are three other scientists that Captain Stern sent out to help me find the scanner! It's a small piece of equipment that Captain Stern needs for the new ship he's building that he needs the part for that you're taking."

I looked to the others. "Do you guys mind taking some time out to look for this 'scanner'?"

"Sure, it means we get to stretch our legs and it's another thing that Team Aqua or Team Magma shouldn't get their hands on." Aria grinned as she stepped next to me with her arms behind her back and clasped her hands together there.

"It's all right with me, lass; I'll just wait here for ya." Mr. Jones headed back onto his with Peeko grinning on his shoulder madly. I shook my head at the two of them and turned back to the assistant that was before me.

"Alright, so you want to explain to us what exactly happened here so we can start looking?" The only of the four scientists that had been kind and shook my hand without the briefcase nodded and pulled out a quick piece of paper and showed it to me where he had already drawn a picture. The device was actually only about the size of a pokenav, though slightly larger, and the lower half of it was the thinnest part which was mostly made for the grip and holding it. The top half of it was a small screen with a few small thin rods sticking out of it to help it get better readings, or, at least, that was what I assumed.

"This is the scanner. Captain Stern left it on this ship the last time it sailed and forgot to get it when we had to evacuate the ship." The assistant pulled the picture away from me and led down a rotted pathway on the side of the ship. "Regardless of whether the device is working or not when we find it, it's very necessary that we find it to keep it out of enemy hands and get it working again for undersea exploration."

We suddenly took a turn inside of the ship and I winced at the strong smell of the sea that seemed to have been soaked into every wooden board and object. The paint and boarding was gone on walls and all was left was the part underneath or soaked insulation of rotten wooden boards in the large gaping holes. Carpeting was ruined and squished under my feet and I could see seaweed growing out of it and many other places from all over the ship.

Bryant led us up through a few pathways in the back of the ship before he ducked into one of the only rooms to seem to have been affected the least by being sunk. It was filled with electronic equipment and surprisingly was dry compared to the rest of the ship. He came up to one of the monitors and set down his drawing.

"As much as I hate to do this, I and the other scientists are going to keep looking on this part of the ship, but we're having little luck here. We need you to search the part of the ship that we can't get to right now, which can only be accessed through the sea." Bryant turned around and led us over to a window and pointed out of it to show another section of the ship that was left off a few hundred feet from this one. "You should be able to get inside the ship through where the ship had broken, due to the fact that, in the top half of the ship that's above water, the metal is still extremely strong and it would take hours to get through all the layers to get to where the scanner was in the Captain's old quarters. Though I would be careful- you need either a water pokemon or some way to get to the other half of this ship. Most of the rooms on that half will have water in them, if some pokemon may have changed the environment in order to live there, there may be some rooms with air, but I can't be positive about that."

"We can however offer you some air tanks to take with you to the ship." One of the three assistants said as he pointed out a set of tanks off to the side.

"That's fine." I turned and looked over at Aria. "I'll head to the other half of the ship, you coming with or staying here?"

"I'll go with you," Aria then proceeded to pull off her clothes and throw them with her bag, which she set against one of the walls. "I was all ready to hit the water when we made it to Slateport anyway."

"All right," I sighed and pulled off my own over clothes to show off the emerald green bikini I had on and the bright yellow one Aria had. I then took my bandanna off my head and I rolled it up before I tied it around my forehead to keep my hair out of my face. I handed the briefcase over to Bryant. "I'll leave this with you then so it doesn't get lost."

"I'll keep an eye on it for you; Latios forbid that it gets into enemy hands." I nodded and hurried over to where the tanks were and grabbed the breathing mask and goggles they had there.

"Let's go, then. Aria, grab a set and we'll head out." Said girl followed my command without a hitch and we quickly grabbed a tank and goggles for both of us before we had everything we need and followed Bryant to where there was a large hole in the floor of the ship a few doors down from the room he showed us. It seemed that this room used to belong to someone from the saturated and ruined personal effects in there, but there was no evidence of death.

"Now just follow the path between the rooms and it'll lead you to the broken base of the ship. That's where the ship is broken in half. From there you need to swim to the other part of the ship and do your best to head up through the center. Captain Stern's old room number was two-oh-two." He patted my shoulder and stepped back from me as to avoid getting wet. "Good luck you two."

I gave him a quick nod before I put the air breather on over my mouth and I jumped into the water, Aria right behind me. I felt my body sink quite a few feet before I had to grab onto something to prevent myself from floating up toward the surface. I looked around to see the shadow covered parts of the sunken ship that were still submerged in water, many more rooms of other people and storage containers. I took a deep breath through the mask due to the increase in pressure down here.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Aria next to me. She pointed downward and I nodded to her. I pushed my body next to the object I had a hold of and used it to push off to give me a boost to push me further down to swim. Aria followed my lead and the two of us pushed past and through most of the ship in only a few strokes, but then again, we weren't all that far from the bottom of it when we started. From the dark lighting and the actual color of the water, everything had a dark blue and green hue to it. At one point the lighting got so dim in the bottom of the ship that Aria and I had to turn on some lights from the edge of our masks so we could see better and make out where we were supposed to go.

I saw the base of the ship soon come into sight and I pointed up ahead so Aria could see. I saw her nod and the two of us pushed ourselves down further and closer to this shallower end of the watery island region. Aria pushed out ahead of me as we swam through the water, though suddenly stopped and I watched her flail as something large moved outside of a hole in the ship that led out into the vast ocean and off the ship. I swam up next to her and patted her shoulder to make her see me. I raised an eyebrow to the girl and she nodded before I took the lead again and led her to the other half of the ship.

Entering the other half of the ship, I noticed that there were multiple rooms open or torn to pieces that we were able to see. I could see the families or people who would stay in these rooms, some personal effects that had been left behind in a mad dash to escape this ship alive. I saw a small locket in one of the rooms that glittered out to me; I couldn't help but swim over and look at the inside of it. When I opened it, the picture faded away in the water, all that was left was the metal of the locket. It was a small heart shaped one. The memory of this heart lost to the cruel world's desires…

I felt Aria tap my shoulder and let the girl lead me toward an area up above through a hole in the room I was just in. It was a small one that we were barely able to get through with our air tanks attached; I even felt mine catch on it for a moment. Once we were through, I saw the shift in water as there was a pocket of air above us. I blinked in shock at that before drifting up toward it and I felt my head break the surface of the water to a chilling air. I shivered at it, but I forced myself to heave my body out of the water. I removed my mask and took a small breath of air; for the most part it was fine, other than the smell of rotting wood.

"I can see the holes and some of the cracks in the wood," I heard Aria comment as she broke the water's surface as well, dragging her body out of the water. "I bet that this part of the ship drained out when it was brought back up to the surface."

"Well now that we know this area's okay to breathe in, we'll just leave our tanks here and look for the captain's old room and search for that scanner. Hopefully we can find it and get it back to Bryant." I set down the tank on the floor, which landed with a thud and I felt it bend a bit under the weight of the metal. Aria followed my lead and set down hers as well before we looked around for any clues as to where we needed to go in the direction of to find the cabin of the old captain.

"Jez! I found a couple rooms here! And the writing's not that faded!" I abandoned my search along the opposite wall and walked over to her as she pointed out the numbers next to the doors. "This one says two-fifty-two! And next to it on the right is two-fifty!"

I pointed down the hallway that was on our direct right. "Then down this way we'll go."

Aria and I headed down the long hallway from the spot where we'd entered this part of the ship. We still had our goggles on us, but we had taken them off as to not fog them up as we walked and use them as a flashlight, for it was about the only form of light we really had at the time. Room numbers passed by us every so often and they rapidly went down in the few minutes that it took us to past by most of them.

"Room two-oh-six, room two-oh-four… here we go, room two-oh-two." We stopped before the desired room and I watched as Aria rushed in and tried to open the door, but alas, she was unable to.

"Damn it!" She looked over at me with a poochyena pout. "Jez! It's locked!"

"What did you expect?" I sighed. "All rooms are locked, Aria, _especially_ the captain's quarters, to make sure no thieves get their hands on valuable charts or items." I shook my head at the girl who kept giving me the pout. "Relax, I'll break it down."

I released all my pokemon at that moment and they shook off the feeling of the cold air before they all looked over at me. "You guys mind taking down this door?"

"Cumbusken!"

"Kirl!

"Beau!"

They all charged at the door and with their combined efforts, the door was flat on the ground in no time. All three of them seemed quite proud of themselves and smugly looked back at me. I chuckled at their behavior and they returned themselves to avoid getting in the way.

Aria and I stepped inside the room and looked at the many maps and charts that were ruined and so faded and so torn by the rough waves of the water that entered this room. Hardly anything was left, but there was just enough that I could make out what they were. A small bed was off to the side, but other than that, hardly anything looked to be a more personal item or wasn't covered in some sort of watered down machine or something like that. All tables and desks could not be seen under the machines that were around.

"Where do you think it would be?" Aria questioned as she glanced at everything in sight.

"It could be anywhere." I sighed and glanced at the objects around me. "Bryant didn't exactly say much else other than the fact that it was in this ro-"

I cut myself off as I saw something gleam off to the side.

"Jez?" Aria questioned and shook my side. "What is it?"

I couldn't help but grin. "I think we found it, Aria." I hurried past the other girl to the other side of the room by the back wall and looked to the inside of an open, rotting desk drawer. Inside that drawer was the small device, which was smaller with a grip on the lower half and the top half of it was a more square shape with a screen.

"Cool!" Aria pushed her arms past me and grabbed the device before I could touch it. She held it before herself and touched a few buttons before she flinched when she saw it turned on. A small screen showed up and lit up with numbers and letters and mixtures of signs that neither of us could understand. "Whoa…"

"Careful Aria, we don't want to break it." She sighed but handed the device over to me before she could drop it. "Now we better get back to Bryant and the other scientists before Team Aqua or Team Magma can show up."

"Speaking of those other scientists, did they seem a little… off to you Jez?" We exited the old cabin of the captain and began the longer walk back down the hallway to where we entered the second half of the ship.

"They did, now that you mention it." I pulled off my bandanna and used the thicker cloth to attach the scanner to my wrist with the help of Aria. "Why do you ask all of a sudden?"

"Well… it bothers me a bit that we don't know much about them. They didn't really want to talk or said anything to us and when we first got there, they tried to take the case from you, at least, those three that weren't with Bryant until this morning like he said."

I stopped for a moment and blinked as I saw those two scenes in my head. The group of three scientists that had reached for my arm with the case when we first arrived was a shock in itself, but then there were the other signs. Bryant had called for help to find the scanner, and just after he made the call the scientists showed up. Not to mention, we know nothing about them, and neither did Bryant.

They were trying to find the scanner… they were after the parts…

"Shit!" I grabbed Aria's arm and dragged her along with me as I sprinted down the hallway. "Hurry Aria! It's Team Aqua!"

**Third Person's Point of View:**

Back up on the first part of the ship, Bryant was looking through the many boxes for the device while the two girls were searching the other half of the sunken ship. The other three assistants, which, as Jezebel had worked out, were members of Team Aqua, were off to the side, looking through other boxes, but making their way closer to where Bryant had stashed the case that contained the parts for the project in Slateport.

"Alright men, we gotta get this case before those two girls come back with the scanner," the female of the group said to the two men. "I'll grab the case while you two take Bryant hostage, we can bribe the girls into giving us the scanner in exchange for him."

"Sounds good, and we won't have any problem with him once we tie him up." One of the male grunts snapped a line of rope and it caught the ear of Bryant from over in the corner.

"Um… guys? What are you doing with that rope?" Bryant took a few steps back as the members of the criminal organization stood up and stepped toward him with their arms out and ready to fight should the researcher do so as well.

"Playing a little game we like to call 'pretending to be members of your research group when we're actually members of Team Aqua'!" All of their research and civilian clothes were thrown to the side and the three members revealed their uniforms from underneath.

"Now we can play this the easy way or the hard way, Bryant. What's it going to be?"

The rope was snapped again and the real scientist cringed at the sound while the men descended on him. He cried out, but his screams would never reach anyone, or so Team Aqua thought.

"Alright!" The female grabbed the case while the two men had a tied up and gagged Bryant in their hands. "Now we have the case and we'll take this prick so those girls have no choice but to trade him for the scanner!"

"Are you so sure about that?" The three grunts whipped their heads around in shock at the two girls they were just speaking of coming up from the stairs. "And I believe you have a few things that don't belong to you."

"Screw you, bitch!" One of the males cackled. "We have a hostage and the goods! There's no way you can get them back from us!"

"Really?" Jezebel pulled out a single pokeball and allowed it to slip from her fingers. Out came the kirlia of her team, that despised his form, who also spat at the criminals. "Blade, take back what they stole."

"Kirl…" the pokemon's eyes glowed and in that instant, both the package and Bryant escaped the grasp of their captors. All items were in the hands of Aria and Bryant was standing next to her after being teleported away.

"No way!" The Team Aqua grunts were quick to back away once they saw that they no longer had any sort of upper hand.

"And I thought this was going to be a nice day…" Jezebel sighed and cracked all of her knuckles before her two other pokemon emerged from their pokeballs. She glanced back at her friend. "Aria, take him and the items back out to Mr. Jones' ship. We're departing right after I'm through with these three."

"Yes ma'am!" The cheery younger girl saluted her and was quick to grab the hand of the assistant before she dragged them out of the ship. "Hurt them real good Jez!"

"I plan to." The said girl that stayed behind released the other two of her pokemon and they rushed out before her, ready to fight. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, fuck you!" All the members of the organization before Jezebel pulled out their own pokeballs and threw them out. All of them turned out to be poochyena, with the one exception of the female grunt who also threw out a second pokeball which contained that of a pokemon that looked like a blue water spider with only four legs, a cute face. Jezebell pulled out her pokedex as the little pokemon nervously looked around.

_Surskit, the pond skater pokemon. They gather on puddles after evening downpours, gliding across the surface of the water as if sliding. They secrete honey with a sweet aroma from their heads. Surskit nests are quite rare and only on occasion can they be found on routes one-oh two, one-fourteen, one-seventeen, and one-twenty._

Jezebel's eyes looked at the nervous pokemon that seemed to be looking for an escape. Her eyes hardened from the frightened pokemon and she looked over to her beautifly. "Silky, get the surskit's pokeball and bring it to me."

"Beau!" The flying and bug type pokemon leapt off her head and glided over to the other side of the room in no time at all and ripped the pokeball of the small bug type out of the other female's hands. She made an indignant cry at that, but made hardly any move to stop the bug pokemon.

Jezebel pulled the pokeball out of her pokemon's hands and tossed it lightly into the air. From there Blaze stepped forward and threw his claws down on the pokeball before it shattered and the surskit was released. It flinched and looked around wildly with hope and landed its eyes on Jezebel.

"Go on, you're free now." Jezebel gave it a soft grin before she pointed behind her. "There's a boat on the side of this ship with two humans on it, get on it and we can take you back to land." She then cracked every single knuckle she had in her hands. "Right after I'm done with these guys..."

The surskit was quick to run out the door before it got into the middle of anything and all the members of Team Aqua focused then on Jezebel.

"Try and beat us if you can bitch."

She laughed at them. "As you wish…"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After the last few screams left the grunts' mouths, I left them in a pile in the room before my pokemon and I hurried out to where the others were waiting for us on the boat. I took a seat across from Aria and my pokemon got settled all round me before Mr. Jones started up the boat and we took off.

"Did you have some fun Jez?" Aria giggled as she questioned me rhetorically.

I snorted. "Of course. And also, we don't have to worry about them for a good long while." I looked down at the little surskit that had placed himself on my lap. "And you're free as well. You can go home as soon as we hit land."

"Sur…" the small blue pokemon's head fell when I said that.

I blinked. "What's wrong?"

"I think he wants to stay with you, Jez," Aria commented as she reached over the counter and petted his head. "He seems to like you a lot and was pretty nervous without you here. He might not be a fighting pokemon, but he could stay with you for a while at least until he gets more used to humans, and then you could send him back to Petalburg with your dad."

"Well, if he doesn't mind traveling with me, I don't mind either." I pulled out another one of the pokeballs that Casey had given me; this one was much darker in color on the top half, mostly a bumpy grey with a spot of blue. If I remembered correctly, it was called a net ball and worked best on water and or bug types. "But it's your choice."

"Sur!" He tapped the pokeball and in a second he was pulled inside. The ball settled after a few twitches and I quickly let the small pokemon back out, who now looked much happier than before.

"And now a name…" I patted my surskit's head. "Is there anything you like to do or just like in general so I can have an idea of what to base your name off of?"

"Surskit sur… sur surskit sur."

"Dancing and spinning around… well spinning can be a part of a dance… how about Spinner?" I puckered my lips at that, but the name somewhat fit. "Not only will it stand for the fact that you like to spin and dance, but you could spin a web as well as a bug type." I looked down at my new pokemon. "Yay or nay on the name?"

"Sur!"

"Then Spinner it is. Welcome to the family." He chued at me and rubbed his face into my hand before he looked up at Silky before getting this dreamy look to his eye. Silky looked at him in question before she landed on the table and he scurried up next to her. He began talking to her, telling her that she was… quite charming, almost like things that Mattie would say to me-

_What?_ I shook my head. _What was I thinking?_

"Jez?" Aria called gently when she looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a certain thought passed through that startled me for a moment. Don't worry, though. I'm fine." I leaned back then and felt parts of my spine cracking under the pressure. "Oh, that feels good…" I then gave a glance to our captain. "How long until we hit Slateport, Mr. Jones?"

"Not much longer lass, just a few minutes." Mr. Jones grinned. "Me and Peeko plan to look at some of the new ships they have there once we dock!"

"And I want to do some shopping!" Aria grinned before she pouted and pulled on her shirt. "I love this old shirt and outfit, but I'm getting tired of wearing just it! I need something new and not torn!"

"And I need to deliver a couple packages, and we'll all get to do that, just as soon as we dock." I grinned as I watched the old abandoned ship vanish from sight and soon came the mainland where the busy seaside port of Slateport came into view. "And there she is!"

Mr. Jones grinned. "Land ho!"

**Witch's Note:**

**And that would be the end to another chapter, and another beating of Team Aqua presented to you by Jezebel Emery-Twain. I hope you stay tuned in next week to see what she beats up and presents next!**

**And… did anyone notice a small detail? I'm not saying what, but it might have been at the end of the chapter… XD**

**So I shall see you all next week with another chapter my dear readers! Love you all and please remember to Review and Send in Questions! Without them I lose my desire to write!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	9. Trouble with Team Aqua

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 9: Trouble with Team Aqua_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

A short while later, after leaving the Aqua grunts back on the S.S. Cactus and pressing on with the scanner, parts, and Bryant in hand, we arrived at the port of Slateport City within the next half hour. It was just like how I had seen it the last time my mother had dragged me here from when I was seven, large and ever quickly growing larger. There were four major districts to the city. On the west side was entirely a port which dealt with ships and underwater sea exploration and research. The south side was resorts and beaches along with secluded islands that led out into the deeper sea. The east side was shopping malls, farmers' markets and residential homes. The north was all put aside for the Slateport Amusement Park which kinda went hand in hand with the south side, and with all the history and shopping in between. It was actually a pretty smart business choice to set up the city that way. It appeals to most of the public, and to those that don't care for it or are just passing through, route one-ten is just on the other side of the town.

"Oh, Jez, what should we do first?" Aria squealed as she looked around at the different sections of town while Mr. Jones tied his boat up to one of the many docks we landed on and paid a fee for parking there. Bryant had already hurried off to the warehouse where he worked and told us to meet up with the captain at the oceanic museum in town. "I want to go shopping! And then I want to go to the amusement park!"

"Go ahead then, Aria." I picked up the suitcase with the part, the scanner, and the papers inside. "I'm going to go and get a quick lunch before I go and deliver these items with my pokemon, and we'll meet up with you later."

"Oh, that's right! I'm sorry, Jez!" Aria whipped right back around to me and bowed her head. "I forgot we had to deliver those! And it's not fair that you have to go by yourself! I'll go with you!" She raised her head and grinned. "And then we can have fun and go shopping afterward! I need your opinion on clothes for me!"

I shrugged. "If that's what you want, Aria, I have no problems with that." My four pokemon quickly leapt off the boat before Silky landed back on my head and Spinner climbed up to my arms and settled there. Blaze and Blade walked on either side of me, as my protectors and my friends. I smiled down at all of them. "But now let's get some lunch; I'm sure everyone's as hungry as I am."

I got multiple cries coming out of all my pokemon, Aria, and her own pokemon as well. With all of us in agreement, we gave thanks to our captain and headed off to town. Aria got carried away with the sights again and quickly ran off to all the food places where she was still just barely in my line of sight. She would taste test the food with her pokemon before she'd either call me over or move onto another one. I shook my head at her, but she seemed to be having a grand old time.

"Oh, Jez! They have crepes here with chocolate or jam and berries!" Aria quickly ran over to me. "Do you want one or two? They look so good!"

I looked over to the stand and saw the two salespeople making crepes at a lightning pace. I saw the chocolate they had there and it looked _damn_ good. It'd been a while since I'd had a treat like this…

"You know what? I will have one. Why don't you get me three of those, one just chocolate, and the two others with either mago berries or iapapa berries. Do you want me to get you anything? I'm planning on getting a couple milkshakes, smoothies and sandwiches for me and my team."

"Um…" she paused for a moment as she thought it over. "I can get my own drinks for me and my team, so don't worry about that, but I would like a couple sandwiches if you don't mind. Two roast beefs on tomato berry and basil bread and… a couple slices of cheese pizza and a large thing of fries with lots of vinegar and salt! Please!"

"All right. I'll meet you over at that table in a bit, then. I'll send someone over there to make sure someone else doesn't take it." I looked over at Silky and Spinner. "You guys don't mind waiting at the table, do you?"

"Beau!" Silky answered for the two of them and she led Spinner off with her to the table where they promptly sat down and waited. I just hoped that no one would harass her while I was gone…

Blaze, Blade and I hurried over to the many stands that held the food that we all wanted and that Aria and her team desired. It took a little bit of time, and a few extra sets of hands, and Blade's psychic abilities, but we soon got all the food we wanted and hurried back to where I'd left Silky and Spinner.

I had to say I was a bit shocked when I came back and some kid was trying to grab at Silky, but she stayed just out of his reach, flying over to different parts of the table. He finally had had enough of that and jumped up onto the table to grab her while Spinner cried out in fear and hid behind Silky. She was just about ready to attack him when I got back.

"Hey! Brat!" He whipped his head around at me and my free hand (well, now free thanks to Blade and his abilities) latched onto his shirt and lifted him up from where he was and set him back down on the ground. I had the others set down our food and take a seat. "You were in the way and bothering my pokemon. Beat it."

"I want that beautifly!" He charged at us again and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I pushed him back lightly when he collided with my outstretched hand to keep him away from Silky, and prevent her from having a reason to seriously hurt him.

"Knock it off you brat. You're not getting my beautifly. End of discussion. So buzz off and annoy someone else." He snorted and I turned my head back to my pokemon, mainly Spinner who was still cowering. "Easy there Spinner. It's okay. Come here and we'll get you something to eat. Look here." I pulled out one of the smoothies I'd gotten. "I got you a nice mago berry smoothie; tell me what you think of it." I placed one before him and pulled the straw down so he could taste it. "I got you one too, Silky."

"I want that beautifly! Give it to me!" The kid suddenly raced forward and got ahold of Silky's wing. She cried out from being grabbed in such a sensitive and easily torn spot.

"Fucking brat!" I jumped to my feet and grabbed his hair and pulled. He screeched and let go of Silky's wing and I shoved him back. He landed on the ground with a thud and held the back of his head in pain. "How do you like having your hair pulled? Touch my beautifly again and I swear that'll be the last thing that you'll have to worry about in a long time!"

"Jez! What's going on?" Aria suddenly walked up with the rest of our food and all of her pokemon out. The boy suddenly looked at her beldum and was back to his feet in no time.

"Give me your beautifly and beldum!" He reached for Aria's beldum this time, but that pokemon wouldn't put up with the kid like Silky had. He hit him in the stomach and knocked him back. The child landed on the ground again and some people stopped to watch the ordeal. Some of them looked upon the boy with worried glances, but I could see they were all upset by how rude he was and trying to hurt our pokemon and take them away from us.

"I'm gonna cry then!" The boy declared from the ground. "I'm gonna cry and the police are gonna come here and they'll make you give me that beautifly and beldum!"

"Then scream all you want, you little shit." I spat out next to him. "There's nothing I hate more than little brats like you, and trust me, you're not getting my pokemon, my _family_!"

"Jez! Calm down!" Aria tried to hold me back. "He's just a little boy! Haven't you and the others done enough? If you hit him again, you could be charged!"

"He tried to rip off Silky's wings, Aria!" I snapped back at the young woman, shaking in rage, and if it wasn't for the fact she was a dear friend to me, I probably would have shoved her aside. "If Silky lost her wings, she wouldn't be able to do anything for the rest of her life! It's her means of survival now that she's fully evolved. He might as well have killed her if that happened!"

"Jez! Calm down!" I suddenly felt two sets of arms grab me from behind and restrain me. I cried out in surprise before I struggled against the hold.

"Let me go!"

"Malcolm!" I snorted in anger as the boy's mother finally showed up along with some police officers. "What did you do?"

"Mom!" The little boy rushed over to his apparent mother and she picked him up into his arms. "That girl won't let me have her pokemon!"

"And rightfully so." The crowd went silent as a new figure approached the crowd. She approached by herself, but she gave off such an authoritative and powerful vibe that there was no need for words. She walked closer to us and anyone in her way automatically moved. It might have been a short while since I'd seen her, but I'd recognize those brown eyes and hair with purple tips anywhere. Rather than her black bikini, she wore a set of indigo shorts and black boots that came up to her knees with light heels while a strapped maroon v cut shirt with lavender dots and a jacket over her shoulders of the color black covered her chest.

"Violet Vilmos…" the child gasped as she approached. I saw her glance at our situation for a moment before she looked over at me and nodded. A silent understanding of what's taken place.

"You can relax now, Jezebel." It was all she had to say. I let out an angry sigh and relaxed my body as best I could. I still felt my friends holding me back, which I soon found out to be Casey and Professor Birch. Violet approached the boy with an unhappy look upon her face.

"Wow! Violet Vilmos! You're so cool." His eyes glowed as he looked at her.

"While that's nice and all, what exactly provoked you to demanding and trying to steal other people's pokemon from them?" Violet gave the boy a look that threw his smile away and he looked worried for the first time. "You know that's not right, and not to mention you could have taken a pokemon's life away if you ripped off that beautifly's wings. Those are its major source of movement, the way it can move and do the things it needs to do." She pursed her lips. "Would you like it if I pulled off your legs?"

He shook his head.

"Are you willing to do that to that pokemon then? Or take them away from their trainers that they love very much?" She had him look over at us and for the first time, I saw a real expression out of the kid where he began to cry. Violet let out a sigh before a smile started to play at her lips as she got through to the child.

"I-I-I'm so-sorry!" he sobbed. "I-I just wa-wanted to be l-like you!"

"And while that's very sweet, you don't need a shiny pokemon for that, nor should you steal or demand that other people give up their pokemon. If you demanded that I give you my Amethyst, do you think I would?"

"No…"

"That's right." She nodded her head. "Now don't you have something to say to those girls and their pokemon?"

"Yes ma'am…" His mother set him down and the kid walked up to us. With tears in his eyes he looked at us before looking at the ground. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have tried to make you give me your pokemon… (sniffle) and I shouldn't have tried to take off your beautifly's wings… (sniffle) It'll never happen again…"

"Its fine, but really, don't do that again. You had us worried for our pokemon." Aria was one to speak up while she worriedly looked over at me, silently telling me to say something. I snorted and turned away from him.

"Don't do it again." I sat back down next to my pokemon without looking back at the kid. My method was a bit harsh, but so was that child, and there was no reason for him to act that way. I _don't_ forgive that easily, especially not those that hurt my friends and family (and by family I mean my father and my pokemon).

The crowd and all others soon dispersed after that, slowly moving on. I saw the mother gently reach for her son and take him away. My friends, the professor, and Violet were all that remained of the previous crowd, along with our pokemon. Poor Spinner was still shaking from his spot on the table as I tried to calm him down and reassure him that it was all okay now.

"Are you and your pokemon all right, Jezebel?" Violet was quick to sit down across from me and my pokemon at the table. I huffed and continued to eat.

"Sure, as long as I don't see that brat again." I shoved a fry into my mouth. "He tried to rip of Silky's wings and scared the crap out of Spinner!"

"I know, I know, breathe." I let it all out in another huff.

"Jez… I know you're mad, but please try to calm down. That boy said he was sorry, knows he made a mistake and is gone now." Casey came and sat next to me and patted my shoulder. "It's all right now; you don't need to be defensive or protective anymore."

"Oh Tauros shit." I growled and the boy visibly shrunk away from me.

Another hand lay on my shoulder. "That's enough; the ordeal is over." I glared up at Violet.

I brushed her hand off. "Don't talk to me as if you're my mother." The woman finally got the point and flinched a bit at my tone. I shoved the last of my food down my throat and picked up Spinner in my arms while Silky jumped up to the top of my head and Blade and Blaze were at my side in a second. "I'm going to go and deliver the parts now to Captain Stern. Later." I pushed past all of them and faded into the crowd before I could hear any of them call for me. My pokemon all worriedly looked at me, but the look on my face said we needed to move far away from here before I would be ready to talk.

**Aria's Point of View:**

Jez had just stormed off; we were all left in the dust as she took off. Anger was vibrating off her entire being. I never thought she'd bring up the subject of her mother, but I never thought I'd see her so angry, at least not like how she was with the Aqua grunts or any bad guy she ran into that wasn't a part of an evil organization. But I guess I was wrong…

"Dude… she was pissed!" Casey was still somewhat cautious, and worried that she'd come right back and bark at him so more. "I don't think I've ever seen her that angry, not even with Team Aqua…"

"I can kinda get where she's coming from, especially with how horrible her mother was in the past to her and her pokemon." All eyes turned to me as I tried to explain. "Her mother basically took her away from everyone that could be her friend- human or Pokemon, really, and kept Jez all to herself. It made Jez a very… hurt person, so she feels like she has to defend and fight almost every second when it comes to her family sticking together, since all…" my voice got quieter as her secrets were slipping out of my mouth, "her family… doesn't get along… or stick together…"

"Family issues eh? And especially separation and mother problems… I can see why she's so tempted to rage." Violet shook her head as she looked off in the direction of where Jez went. "That girl's a mountain ready to blow."

"But what can we do to help her?" Professor Birch questioned from the side of his son.

"Be there for her when she needs you. It's better than her being alone, although she's never alone now that she has a pokemon team and family that she holds so dear." Violet looked to the device in her hands before she hissed. "Damn, my break's over and I didn't even get something to eat." She put her phone in her pocket. "A few more minutes isn't going to kill me, even if it does dock my pay…"

"Violet?" The woman looked over at me in question. "I know Jez didn't say it, but thank you for stopping that fight before it got out of hand. While she was pissed at him, she didn't really want to hurt him. He was just a little boy who didn't know better…"

"Don't worry about it, Hon." She ruffled the top of my hair. "Now go to her, and make sure she always has someone to lean on if she needs you. And promise me you'll be careful. Especially you and Jezebel."

"Me?" I blinked at her. "Why?"

"Shiny pokemon." Violet stated it without wasting a heartbeat. "An old enemy of mine, Rose Agustino, loves and will kill for the chance to have one. She was after my charizard, Gwyn's gyarados, and now your beldum and her beautifly."

"Well she can go fuck herself!" I crossed my arms and turned from the woman.

"If only it were that easy…" Violet pulled me back to look at her. "Let me tell you a story…"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After storming off from the others with my pokemon, I found myself at the base of the oceanic museum that Bryant had told me was where I'd find Captain Stern. I took in a deep breath before I looked back at my Pokemon, who were all worriedly huddled around me.

"Sorry about exploding back there, you guys… I really don't know what came over me…"

"Combusken?" Blaze placed his hand on my elbow and wrapped his claws around it comfortingly. "Combusk combusken?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now… I think…"

"Kirl…" Blade levitated himself up into the air and used his small hands to wipe away the few stray tears I had coming out of my eyes. "Kirl kirlia kirl…"

"Beautifly! Beau!"

"Sur sur! Surskit sur!"

Another tear fell that Blade raced to catch. "Thanks you guys… and you're right. Now let's get this over with so we can try and enjoy the rest of the day." I held up the case. "And we can finally get rid of this case. It's honestly starting to get fucking annoying carrying it everywhere!"

"Cumbusk!"

"Kirl!"

"Beau!"

"Sur!"

They all cheered, happy to see me in a good mood again. I then pushed open the door to the museum and my pokemon and I gaped at the sight of all the information about past divers and explorers of the sea of our region and all the information they found on it. It was a decent sized room with many people filling it in order to look at all the marine objects and some fossils from the ocean floor. The color theme for the most part was different shades of blue along with shades of white and black and grey with murals painted on the walls of different ports and islands while items were encased in glass.

I looked around for a quick moment before I saw a set of stairs that led up to the next floor. The doorway was blocked by a sign that said "employees and personnel only". I pushed past it- I mean, I had a package to deliver to them here- and hurried up the stairs. At the top was another level of marine objects, paintings and other things on display, but it seemed only half done and there was still equipment around and clothes hanging on the walls.

I saw a single man up here that seemed to be well at work on a computer on the side of the room while looking at a model of a ship. Shaggy brown hair covered his head, and he wore a white dress shirt along with tan pants.

"Excuse me?" I called out to the man and he held up a hand for me to wait. He continued to type at the keyboard for another moment before he stopped and sighed before he turned around. I saw sky blue eyes that were covered by small framed glasses that covered his face as the man stood up from his desk. Pale while skin glowed in the light and a frown was set upon his narrow face.

"Who are you?" He crossed his arms. "You're not an employee or one of my workers. Nor have I seen you in town before."

I held out the case. "I'm assuming you're Captain Stern, and if you are, or know where he is, I have the part he needed from Devon Corp., and I have the scanner from the S.S. Cactus. I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain. I believe Mr. Stone told you I was coming."

His eyes lit up as soon as I was finished explaining and he hurried over to me and checked the part in the case and the scanner and the few papers that were inside as well. He then closed the case and handed it back to me before he reached into his pocket and pulled out an ID card.

"I am Captain William Stern, and thank you for bringing this all this way. I'm sorry for any sourness I showed you." He took the case from me and looked around with a glare. "Team Aqua has been messing around with our plans to further our understanding of the bottom of the sea, stealing items and knowledge from our labs and even here."

I raised an eyebrow and showed him a light grin. "That's why they thought a new approach would be good for sending you the part you needed."

"And I'm glad they did." He patted the case before he pointed back to the stairs. "Would you mind at all accompanying me back to the docks so that the part and the scanner are not stolen? I hired the IPHP League to protect the project, but I didn't think you'd bring the parts to me here and I'd prefer to protect them until they get on site."

"Not at all Mr. Stern. Some more walking won't kill us."

"Hold it right there Captain Stern!" I suddenly dove before the captain and my Pokemon dove before me as two Team Aqua grunts suddenly appeared in the room. They both stepped out before us and held out pokeballs in their hands. "There's nowhere to run!"

"Who said anything about running?" I snorted while the grunts looked at me and one of them quickly recognized me before stepping back.

"Oh man! It's that girl that's been beating up everyone in our organization!" The grunt turned to his companion. "Should we call for help?"

"No, we can handle this girl on our own. She can't stand up to our pokemon or our muscles!" Both of them then threw out their pokeballs and out came a couple poochyenas and a zubat. "Get her!"

I huffed. _What_ _did they think I was? A five year old that couldn't defend herself?_ "Silky! Spinner! Stay with the captain!" Both of them hurried back to him and jumped on him to protect him. "Blade, take out the zubat with confusion, and Blaze, take out the poochyena with double kick!"

Blade went first with confusion; he laid his eyes on the poison/flying type and caught it in his gaze. The pokemon started to screech and was thrown back into the trainer who had summoned it from the pokeball. The two of them landed with a thud back toward the stairs.

Blaze was after him with his high powered kicks that helped him leap into the air and land right before the small canines. He flipped to the side and swung his first foot at the poochyena on his left, and then the right. Both were thrown back into the other grunt and the three of them were shoved into the other two against the wall, left in a heap of bodies, knocked out cold.

"What seems to be the holdup here?" I froze as I heard a voice from down the stairs. "How long does it take to get a package from a child?"

_I recognized that voice…_

The man stepped up and over the steps to look at his men, sighing and shaking his head at them before he looked over at my pokemon and me.

_I was immobile from the sight of him…_

The man was dressed in black from head to toe. Black shoes, black pants, black shirt… though you could see it purposely opened in the front to show off part of the top half of his chest, covered in thick muscles that could easily be seen through the black clothes. A chain necklace was hung around his neck along with a dark sea blue bandanna with the Aqua symbol on it; the same sort of symbol was on a metal piece that hung from the end of the opening in his shirt. His skin was pale, but lightly colored like mine. His black facial hair connected to his actual hair on his head and also framed out the edges of his face and chin. All the underside of his neck was clean shaven, as was the rest of his face other than two small lines of hairs that were marked just below where someone's dimples would be. His eyes were a dark black in color and they looked coldly at me.

"Apparently that child is a bit more powerful then what I would have guessed, especially if she was being a pain in the ass." He continued to make his over to where I was and I couldn't move under his gaze, no matter how much I tried or wanted to move. "So you're the famous girl that's been getting in the way of all the affairs of Team Aqua." He slowly reached for my face and Blaze lashed out at him with a claw when he got too close. The man pulled back his hand and glared at my pokemon before he looked back over at me. "How about a name to go with that face?"

"Go to hell, you bastard."

_The words may have slipped out of my mouth so easily, but on the inside, it tore my heart in two to say them. I wasn't about to also reveal my name to him. I didn't want to get Dad in any sort of trouble or put any more shame on my family then there already was._

"Such a fiery child. I like that, but…" He bent himself down on his knees to look up at me. "You've been getting in the way."

"So? What you're doing is wrong and you're hurting people and pokemon because of it!" I felt my heart sinking with every moment this conversation continued. "Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"Bother me? Why would it?" He laughed and got back to his feet and turned around. "Team Aqua has a goal, a goal to expand the sea. Regardless of the few people we may have to trample on or the pokemon we require to accomplish our dream, we will continue forth until it is achieved." He shook his head and walked back toward the door. "But a child like you would never understand my ambitions, for I am an adult and you're only a mere child." He waved to me before he returned the two pokemon of his grunts and hauled them over his shoulders. "I will allow the part and the scanner to stay in the hands of Captain Stern for the time being, but be warned… I will be back for them, and your submarine." He flashed a bright white set of teeth in a malicious grin. "Have a horrible day…"

He vanished without a trace after that. The lights went out and when they re-lit a second later, he was gone. I sucked in a breath, finally feeling like I could breathe again, and sank to the floor.

"Jezebel?" The captain was quick to hurry to my side. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Blaze, Blade." I looked to my protectors. "Take the captain to the docks and make sure he's with Violet or Gwyn before you come and meet up with me, Silky, and Spinner at the northern side of town, just past the amusement park." With their help, I began to get to my feet. "I can't stay here…"

Without any more to be said, my pokemon quickly helped me up entirely and Spinner took a place on my shoulder while Silky reached for my hand and gently pulled me along. Blaze and Blade led me out and then led the captain on his way. I'd seen the man worriedly look back at me, but he pressed on with my pokemon and the prized items in hand.

Silky and Spinner led me through the amusement park and, in comparison to the storm inside my head, people were laughing and having fun, children were jumping in fun houses and playing with their pokemon while I was led through, as if there was a storm over my head. I felt nothing but shame and dread inside as I was led through the colorful lights that normally brought cheer to all that came.

_How could you do this Uncle Archie?_

**Witch's Note:**

**Holy fuck! What? Jezebel's uncle is head of the very organization that she's been facing against and has been causing harm? How did he not know it was her? Apparently he's not around her enough to know what she actually looks like, even with a new haircut…**

**Oh well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter with Jezebel spazzing out and finding out her uncle was head of Team Aqua! Wait 'til you see what happens in future chapters, people! We're gonna get into more drama! **

**Love you all and see you next week! Please remember to Review and send in Questions!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	10. Catching Up & Shutting Down

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 10: Catching Up &amp; Shutting Down_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

"_Jezebel!"_

"_Jez! Where are you?"_

"_Jezebel!"_

The calling had been going on for a long while now. I didn't return to the town that night, opting to sleep out and under the stars with my team and get my mind in some form of a working order. Sadly, it was a slow process. Just yesterday I'd discovered that my uncle from my father's side of the family was the leader of Team Aqua, one of the two teams that were causing havoc all over the region of Hoenn and reasons why Violet and her organization were here, along with the other obligation of taking Rose Agustino, a murderer of human and pokemon races alike, down. I battled with myself all night on what to do about that predicament. I finally came to the conclusion as I had finally fallen into a slumber, with my pokemon holding me all around, that I would take care of my uncle and his organization myself. I would keep my identity hidden as best I could as well. If he knew I was family, who knows what tides may turn? Not to mention, he seemed so… _different_ then when I last saw him. He didn't even know it was me, and if he could do that to random young trainers, especially females like myself, from all over the region, what would he do to his niece?

"_Jez!_" I turned my head to the shouting; it was getting closer. I could tell them apart now. I still didn't feel like getting up from where I was laying though at the time. Blaze and Blade sat up and Silky fluttered her wings while Spinner just curled into my side. All of them were staying by my side; none had left for anything throughout the night.

"Jez!" I finally heard the cry only a few feet from me; a female voice, which meant Aria, and I glanced at her through tired eyes as she hurried up to me. "Casey! I found her!"

"Oh, for Latios' sake… thank goodness…" Casey soon appeared as well, and, once he saw me, he quickly pulled out his pokenav and started calling numbers, probably to assure people that I was okay.

"Jez!" Aria hurried over to my side and dropped to her knees to help me sit up. I tiredly rubbed my eyes and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I sighed and pushed myself to my feet, even in my tired state. "Don't worry about me; I just didn't feel like staying in the city after all that happened yesterday."

"Jez… please don't lie to us." Aria quickly got to her feet and latched her hands onto my wrist. "I know you saw the boss of Team Aqua yesterday. We both know." She sighed and took a step closer. "The captain told us once he got back to the docks. He said how upset you were over it before you took off. We've been looking for you all night and day!"

"Aria, drop it." The girl flinched at my words and was quick to release my wrist as soon as I had. I shook my head. "I'm sorry Aria, but I don't want to talk about it. So let it go."

"Jez… I don't know if I can…"

"Will it help you if we drop it?" Casey came around then with his pokenav in hand. Either the phone calls were done or he put them on hold. "If we drop this conversation, do you promise to tell us at some point in the future and let us help you?"

"Sure." I didn't care at that moment so long as they got off my back and let me be. Aria dimly nodded and Casey gave a curt nod before closing his phone.

"All right then. Everyone that was worried about you are glad we found you, and we'll put this conversation to the side, but we are coming back to it. Got it?"

"Whatever." I motioned to my pokemon to get up and follow me. "Come on, you guys. We have some traveling to do. We need to make it to Mauville City and get our next gym badge; a good battle should help us wind down from yesterday." I showed as best a grin as I could to my team. "And I'm sure all of you are itching to battle."

"Combusken combusk combusk."

"It will, Blaze, I promise." I shook my body out, cracking all that I could and stretching before pulling a snack out of my bag for my breakfast, packing up and calling it good. "All right, then. Let's head further down the route and find some trainers to battle. I'm in desperate need of one."

I started to head off in a northward direction. The others slowly and nervously followed me and my loyal pokemon, who were the only ones who knew the _real_ story.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Almost an hour later, we'd passed through the route that sat below a bridge that carried cars and bikes from city to city. We had neither of those transportation options, so we opted for the trail below on an old grassy path on which trainers seemed to walk. It was a mostly quiet walk to the next city by taking this route when we weren't battling others, since I didn't really want to talk. Regardless of that, I mentally spoke with my pokemon in their minds, showing them the memories of my uncle that I had stored away, and why I couldn't understand why he was doing this.

While those thoughts stormed inside my mind, Aria and Casey, along with their pokemon, remained quiet for the most part other than small conversations between each other and their pokemon. They weren't sure how to approach me, nor did I really want to be approached all that much. Just thinking of my uncle brought horrifying thoughts to my mind… did Aunt Shelly know? What about Caspian or Nixie? Did he drag the three of them in too? Were they, maybe, forced to join, or were they left entirely out of this?

Before we knew it, we made it to the next city, Mauville to be precise, the location of the next gym and a very large gambling town. Clubs were set up all over the place; even kid-friendly ones that taught others how to play the games. There were a couple of parks around as well for those that didn't quite like the constant gambling or just needed a break; Aria, Casey and I actually had to pass through one of them to get to the pokemon center to rest up before the gym.

It was still silent up until the point when we reached the pokemon center. Once we stepped inside and saw the incredible number of people that were inside and talking, the familiar atmosphere of cheerful others brought a small smile to my face. I suddenly felt two sets of hands grab my own. I looked to either side to see Aria and Casey.

"We know you don't want to talk, but we're still here for you if you do." I blinked at Aria before a tear escaped me before I could hold it back and I used my arm to wipe it away. I nodded to her silently and pulled on both of their hands to where Nurse Joy was at the front desk waiting for anyone who needed pokemon healed. We handed all of ours to her before we quickly grabbed up a table to get some lunch and order for our pokemon as well.

"Mattie, wait!" I raised my head at the shout and looked to the two males that were making their way to Nurse Joy very quickly, or at least one of them was while the other one was trying to keep up with the first. Upon closer inspection I saw the green and white outfit along with the pale skin and green hair, which actually had a lot more of a shine to it now and a deeper color, making it a more vibrant grass green.

"Is that Mattie?" Casey blinked as he looked ahead.

"And who's that with him?" Aria questioned as she and the rest of us watched him walk away from the older man.

Without a word, I stood up and hurried my way over to where Mattie was rushing off.

"Uncle! Stop trying to convince me! I-I want to get stronger, and I have to battle the gym leader t-to do that!" His voice was a bit stronger this time, it was a large improvement since the last time I'd seen him.

"Mattie?" The boy lifted his head away from the man he was walking away from as he passed off his pokeballs to the nurse.

"Jezebel?" I gave the boy the best smile I could muster in the storm of a clouded mind I had. Thankfully, for me that was, he couldn't tell that I was hurting and gave me a wide grin back. "It's so good t-to see you!"

"How have you been?" The boy was quick to come up to me and give me a hug, one which I greatly needed and accepted.

"I-I've been fine. I-I've been training and getting stronger; no-now I want to face the gym leader in this town…" he looked sadly at the man next to him who bore a resemblance in facial structure and skin tone, but other than that, nothing else. "My uncle refuses to let me try… even through I've al-already beaten Roxanne and Brawly…"

"Well, then, I think you should be able to give it a try. You never know until you do anyway. You tried becoming a trainer and look how far you've come." I pulled back from the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Here, why don't we do this? I'll battle you and we can prove to your uncle just how strong you've become. That, and I need a good battle, and I've wanted to see how Guardian faces off in battle, as well as Roza and Luna."

The boy's eyes began to glow in so much excitement, I thought they would burst. "Really?" It was also the clearest and most solid his voice had ever been in… well, all the time I really knew him. "You'll do that?"

"Of course, and this way Blade and Guardian can see how much each other have grown."

As if off a cue, the two pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs. Both were in the stages of kirlia after their first evolution. Blade still hated his form and couldn't wait until he evolved, though on the other hand, Guardian seemed to have much fun twirling about before teleporting herself next to Blade and hugging him. He blushed brightly at that, and even Guardian had a bit of color to her face when she pulled back.

I couldn't help but snicker at the two, and it felt so good. "Having fun over there, you two?"

Blade quickly pulled back and rubbed the back of his head while he held out his hand for Guardian to take. She did so and Blade took the hand and brought it to his lips. She blushed even more.

I felt a light-heartedness come over my heart that felt so warming and dry, countering the storm that slowly was depleting over my head with the help of my wonderful friends and pokemon. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Please wait!" I turned my head back to the uncle that had followed Mattie. "I know that Mattie's become stronger since he's been able to travel, but I think he should slow down!"

"Uncle! I'm fine!" The shout startled all of us, and I'd never heard Mattie speak with no stuttering or hesitation. He _must_ have been feeling very well to argue, and I've never seen him do that either.

"I'm not going to stop him. I'm not his keeper." I shrugged and walked toward the door. "Mattie, if you want that battle, I'll be waiting outside. Let's show your uncle how much you can really do."

I turned back briefly to look at the boy who had a stunned look to his face for a moment before he nodded and gave me a determined look. "I'm going to do my best!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, after Mattie's pokemon had been fully healed, we stepped outside and into the square for our battle. I was shocked to see a crowd of people actually show up. Maybe it was because people were watching a trainer battle? Or maybe it was something else entirely? Did they recognize me from when I beat Team Aqua's asses? I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind as I stepped forward and Mattie did as well. The onlookers and our friends stepped backward to give us plenty of space and watched with intent.

"I hope you're ready, Mattie, and trust me when I say I'm not going easy on you, no matter how close of a friend you are to me."

To my shock and glee, the boy gave me a soft grin; the first of many, I hoped. "You had better not, Jezebel. I value you too as a really close friend, but I want to prove to my uncle that I'm strong, and everyone else too!" He pulled out a pokeball. "Let's go!"

"Shall do. Let's go Silky!" My pokemon were all at my side and Silky, being atop of my head, jumped off and flew out over a part of the plaza that was the battlefield. Everyone ooh'd at her coloring, but Mattie paid no mind to it.

"Let's go then, Guardian!" From his pokeball came the psychic type and I couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't exactly set up a good match in his favor.

"Mattie, did you want to be at the type disadvantage?" I questioned the boy and he in turn gave me a strange look. "Mattie, honey, psychic types are weak to bug."

"What?" The boy looked extremely out of place as I brought up that subject as gently as I could.

"I'm sorry, honey. But it's an easy mistake to make. Not all people know about that matchup. I didn't even know about it until recently when I faced a psychic trainer." I held out my hand toward him. "If you want, you can switch out Guardian and choose someone else-"

"No!" I blinked at him and he nervously looked away. "No… Jezebel, it's my mistake. I have to work with it."

I gave him a soft smile. "I'm glad to hear that from you, Mattie. I'll avoid my bug type moves so we can have a fair battle-"

"No, use your bug-type moves." He shook his head and I was shocked to see the bright determination in his eyes. "I made the mistake; I have to deal with its consequences."

"Well, all right, then." I blinked and shook my head at the utter change in this boy since I first met him. I then grinned and felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins. "You want it? You got it!" I turned to Silky. "Start out with silver wind!"

"Jez!" I heard Casey's scolding voice over the howling winds of silvery powder that headed toward Guardian. "You could have gone a bit easy on him!"

"No, I can't!" I grinned and showed it to him, happy to be back in a playful battle with my friend. "I promised him I wouldn't go easy on him; didn't we just go over this?"

"Guardian! Use protect and then teleport!" I turned my head back to the battlefield and watched as a shield came around Guardian before she vanished and the silver wind hit its mark, but no pokemon was there. "Now!"

"Kirl!" I gasped and looked to the sky above as Guardian suddenly appeared above Silky, with the cover of her protect still on, and literally fell from the sky. She slammed her body into Silky and threw them both into the ground. I watched as Guardian teleported herself out and there wasn't a scratch on her, on the other hand, Silky jumped out of the hole with a few bruises to her body.

_Damn, none of my pokemon have been hurt that badly. I really underestimated him. Even if he does have the type disadvantage, he's a formidable rival._

"Silky! You all right?"

"Beau!" She shook off some of the dirt on her from where she landed and quickly got back up into the air, more determined than before.

"I guess this is going to be a downright good battle." I grinned. "But now it's _our_ turn to have some fun."

"Hit me with your best shot, then, Jezebel!" the shy boy called out from the other side of the field.

"You want it? You got it!" I looked to my bug type. "Now Silky! Use gust!"

"Beau!" My beautifly threw up some strong winds with her wings and threw them over at Guardian, who waited on Mattie's orders.

"Guardian! Teleport away and then use confusion on Silky!" The psychic pokemon vanished then appeared again over Silky's head and her eyes glowed. Silky cried out in pain while she sunk down to the ground with her head held in pain.

"Silky!" I gritted my teeth and cried out, "Silky, use silver wind!"

She cried out and threw a massive attack of strong winds that carried the silvery powder that hit the psychic pokemon head on. Guardian cried out and was thrown up high into the air before she was thrown out of the way of the attack and crashed into the ground before Mattie. His eyes went wide as Guardian landed on the ground in a heap.

"Guardian!"

"Nice job Silky!" My beautifly sighed happily before she flew back down to me and landed on my head. "Now let's go Blade!"

My psychic type then headed out. Blade teleported out on the field, startling Mattie as the boy took Guardian into his arms. He returned the pokemon before he stepped back to where he was before and pulled out another pokeball.

"Wow, you are strong Jez." Mattie then narrowed his eyes at me. "But that doesn't mean that I plan on losing! Let's go, Luna!"

Out from the other pokeball came Luna, his skitty. The small and playful cat ran around in a circle before she suddenly stopped and glared at Blade on the other side of the field. She yowled at him and hissed, her tail swinging quickly in the wind, ready to hit something with the large pad on the end of it.

"Alright Luna! Start off with double slap!" Mattie's cry rang out and Luna was on the move. She dug her feet into the ground and suddenly threw herself over at Blade at a blinding speed.

"Blade, teleport!" Blade was gone just in the nick of time as the normal type flung her tail forward and it hit the ground instead. A large indent of compressed ground lay in the wake of where the tail had been. Luna ripped her tail out of the indent and snapped it forward; looking on the field to where Blade was so she could hit him.

I suddenly looked up to the sky where Blade was and watched as he was floating above to make sure the skitty didn't see him. Luna might have looked sweet and adorable, and she was entirely, but in battle, she was a _bitch_. She suddenly acted as if she turned into this fiery vulpix that just couldn't let anything go and kept attacking until all enemies were gone. In a way, I guess I could call her similar to the 'monster pokemon' that I had on my own team.

"Now Blade! While she can't see you! Use confusion!" Blade then made his move, teleporting again to get closer, and sunk his attack in on her. Luna cried out once she was hit, but that didn't seem to stop her. Even with the psychic attack damaging her brain and causing thick waves of pain and aching to echo through it, she was able to push her way through the attack, looking at Blade before she shoved herself off the ground at him.

"Slam that pokemon into the ground Luna!" She did just as Mattie commanded. Luna shoved her entire body into the attack and threw Blade into the ground. I gasped as I watched the dust cloud jump into the air when he landed and Luna shook off the dirt before she landed before Blade, ready and waiting with that damn tail of hers for when he emerged.

I hissed out and looked into the dust cloud. I suddenly saw Blade's shadow as he shoved himself back and toward me so the other side couldn't see him. He looked up at me, waiting to see what I wanted to do next.

"We gotta get that pokemon somehow…" Suddenly an idea sparked when I saw the thin tail between her body and the large pad on the end of it. "All right Blade, teleport and get that tail!"

"Kirl!" He vanished then and I suddenly heard a cry on the other side of the field come from the skitty. A patch in the dust cleared and I suddenly saw that Blade had a good solid hold on the thin part of the tail of Luna. She squirmed and tried to swing him off or carry him around in an attempt to throw him off, but Blade held on tight.

"Luna! Get him off! Go in circles!" The damn kitten pokemon rushed around in circles then at such an impressive speed to try and use the force of her running around to throw Blade off. It had no such luck as he held on tighter.

"Now, Blade!" I grinned. "Use teleport to get yourself up into the air, and then confusion to keep her from moving!" My pokemon did just that; the two vanished from the middle of the field and suddenly appeared high up in the sky. Luna screeched as she tried to find anything to grab onto, but there was nothing and no one, save for Blade who still had hold of her tail.

"Hang in there, Luna!" Mattie called out worriedly to his pokemon.

"Now Blade! Swing her around and crash her into the ground while using confusion the entire time!" I probably was pushing my pokemon at that moment, but Blade didn't mind. He wanted to get stronger and if pushing himself past his limits was one way, he would do it. He then used his abilities to break into the mind of the kitten pokemon once more and she cried out in pain. Once he had her rendered useless up in the sky, he then swung her body before him so that the two of them were going in a circle and were reaching speeds similar only to moves such as rollout or flame wheel.

"Take her down!" As soon as my order rang out, the two pokemon slammed into the ground, Luna being the one to take most of the hit with her being swung. She landed on her back and was pressed deeply into the ground by a few feet. Blade was atop her, using her tail as a cushion to stop his fall.

Suddenly, Luna's eyes opened and she growled out a storm. Blade was shocked, as was I, to see that she was still kicking with all the damage she just took from all the psychic attacks and damage from being slammed from over a few stories in the air.

"Finish him off Luna!" Mattie called out once he saw his pokemon was okay. "Double slap!"

Before I could give the order and before Blade could even do it without an order, Luna's tail swung down with him still on it, and crushed him into the ground. The indent was shockingly deeper then Luna's was when she crashed and I couldn't help but feel a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I jumped out onto the battlefield and rushed over to where Blade was. I looked down into the hole and saw him, buried almost six feet under in the rocks. I sighed and reached down to grab him; he was knocked out cold.

When I pulled him up, I held him in my arms before I pulled out his pokeball. "You were amazing, Blade. Next time we'll get Luna, I promise. Until then, rest." I didn't get a reply from him, but I didn't need one either. Blade would get stronger, and he wouldn't let this loss go until he got to battle Luna again and beat her.

"Nice job Luna!" The kitten pokemon somehow jumped up and into the air with much more energy to spare and rushed back over to Mattie. He picked her up in his arms and let her crawl on the back of his shoulder where she rested while he pulled out a final pokeball. "I know I may have the type disadvantage with this last pokemon Jezebel, but it doesn't matter. We'll fight you with everything we have." He tossed it out. "Let's go Roza!"

From the pokeball came the roselia he had, the last of his team. The large flowers that she had for hands stood out as she took a stance on the other side of the field. I shook my head at that. She was beautiful, and I knew Roza had some powerful moves, but that didn't mean that she would pose too much of a challenge to my Blaze.

"Let's finish this up, Blaze. Take Roza down!" My combusken nodded and leapt out onto the field. He let out some flames from the tips of his feet and from his beak. He held out his claws before him and beckoned the thorn pokemon toward him.

"Busk." He grinned.

"Rose!" She cried back and leapt into the air.

"That's right Roza!" Mattie cried out with a grin. "Start out with magical leaf!"

The pokemon complied with his command and a set of rainbow-like leaves were thrown from the flowers she had for hands. They flew around in multiple directions before some of them hit Blaze and then the other batch would hit him right afterward. Of course, with them being a grass type move, they didn't do much damage, but still, continuously attacking him like this was bound to wear him down at some point.

"Blaze! Ember around yourself to burn the leaves!" Through my pokemon's arms, he nodded to me and released his defense of his arms before he blew a thick fire around his body. I grinned while Mattie and Roza had to shield their eyes from the blazing heat and the brightness of the fire. "Now attack with double kick!"

Blaze flung himself out of the fire and rushed at the grass pokemon. His feet swung around him and the first one caught the poor pokemon by her arm. The other rose far above her head and came slamming down on her head, forcing her to crash into the ground. Blaze then let go, but jumped into the air again to land another blow on her, a harsh strike to the back, before he jumped off and gave her a moment to recover.

"Roza!" I saw Mattie bite his lip. "Put it to sleep with grasswhistle!"

"Rose!" The pokemon quickly got to her feet and she then began to sing. I felt my body instantly succumb to her song as even I began to get sleepy from the melodic tune of the flowers. My eyes began to drop and even through the small cracks, I could see Blaze falling to the same effects. I felt my legs give out and I felt to the ground. I could hear some screams around me, but they were so vague to the beautiful music playing on the wind that just seemed to keep echoing in my mind.

As my eyes were closing, I just vaguely saw a foot land before my vision and it startled me enough to wake me of the effect for a moment. The music was still playing, but it was no longer echoing in my head. I felt the adrenaline kick back up and my eyes snapped open. My hand shot up and latched onto Blaze's arm. I used it to pull me back to my feet. From the other side of the field, I could see Mattie shocked at the resistance we put up to his attack. Blaze waited for a moment until I got to my feet and could hold my own before he slowly began to walk to the other side of the field where the roselia was still playing her song, trying to lull Blaze under.

_That's right… Blaze promised to be there for me, to be my protector, after all the shit that's happened to me…_ _We're not about to go down after this. I'm stronger than this!_

"Let's get back in this fight, Blaze! Take out that grasswhistle and attack with slash!" Blaze then leapt forward. The roselia was startled by his speed and her song stopped as he thrust his claws forward and she screeched from the attack.

"Roza!' Mattie called out fearfully.

"Now it's time to finish this, Blaze. Take it out with ember!" My combusken grinned and suddenly the fire slipped out of his mouth before he fired it over to the other side.

"Roza! Counter it with solarbeam!" My eyes widened as the roselia jumped back to her feet and summoned the power of the sun into her hands of roses before she pointed it at my combusken and fired.

"Blaze! Duck!" He dived for the ground and the blast just flew over his head. I watched it nip at the tips of Blaze's feathers on his head and he snarled at that.

_Who knew that Roza knew such powerful attacks? No wonder he got his last two badges. Mattie and his team certainly are a challenge._ I grinned at that before I looked over at Blaze. The attack had vanished and he had gotten back to his feet. To my shock and glee, Roza was tuckered out on the other side of the square, after using that powerful attack and all.

"Perfect! Blaze! Take her out with ember!" My pokemon grinned and leapt up into the air before heaving out a giant blast of fire upon Roza. She cried out as the flames reached her grassy skin and she was sucked into a small bonfire.

"Roza!" Mattie called out and suddenly threw his bag to the side before rushing out to the field.

I gasped at his boldness. I ran in the same direction. "All right, this battle is over! Silky! Use gust to put out that fire!"

"Beau!" She jumped off my head and flew into the air before blowing some harsh winds at Roza. The flames instantly vanished and Mattie took her into his arms. He flinched at the heat coming off her body, but other than that, was happy to see she was okay. She was knocked out for the count however, leaving Blaze and I as the victors.

"Wo-ow, you really beat us Jezebel, but having that battle with y-you was a-an amazing one." Mattie returned Roza to her pokeball and smiled at me nervously. His energy high from the battle that made him an entirely different person was gone and he was returning to his old state of mind where he stuttered before me every now and then. "I-I guess I do need some more training…"

"Nonsense! I'd battle both of you here and now!" We turned our heads to the person who spoke. Out of the crowd came an older man; you could tell from his snow white hair and the wrinkles that were coming into his face. His white hair was pointed on the back of his head while he had a scruffy looking white beard. His eyes were a chocolate brown that held so much joyous life in them with a heavy leather jacket of the same color to match with tan pants. He looked like he had a bit more of a more rugged build.

"Excuse my asking," I turned to the man as he stepped out before us, "but who are you?"

"I'm Wattson Electra, the gym leader of this town!" He bellowed out a laugh, hanging onto his slightly larger belly before he looked back at us and grinned. "You two are an amazing duo of battlers and I'd love to battle the both of you! Today and now even!"

"Really?" I blinked at him before I looked at Mattie and then back to him. "You mean like at the same time?"

"Sure! Why not?" The jolly man pointed at the two of us. "I can see the friendship and the great communication between the two of you, not to mention you both have amazing pokemon on your teams." He then pulled out two pokeballs and held them in his hand, twirling them around in their shrunken forms while a grin came to his face. "I'd like to have a double battle with you two; you both use one pokemon while I use two. If either of your pokemon faints, that trainer doesn't get my gym badge. So long as your pokemon can beat mine and are still standing at the end, you _both_ can get my gym badge."

I smirked and turned back to Mattie. "What do you say, Mattie? Wanna tag team with Blade and Guardian and get our third gym badge?"

The boy's eyes lit up like a tree on Christmas Day and he chucked himself at me. "Yes! Jezebel, I-I'd be honored to battle with you!" He pulled back from me and gently took ahold of my hand, but not without a blush coming to his cheeks. "Let's go get our pokemon healed and then head over to the gym!"

"And a bit of practice in, Mattie. I've never been in a double battle before, and I don't think you have either. We'll have to work together if we both want our gym badges." I smiled at him before I turned to look back at Wattson. "Do you mind terribly if we have at least an hour to practice before we come over to your gym?"

"Not at all." He shrugged, but then enlarged his pokeballs to allow his pokemon out. "But here's a look at what you'll be facing!"

Out from the two pokeballs came two pokemon, easily noticeable as electric types from the sparks that were dancing all over their bodies. The first of the two was a small green pokemon that walked on four legs and had a bit of a long muzzle with its head spiking backward toward its short tail. It had thin streaks of yellow on the sides of its long head and on the middle of its tail. Its eyes were black in color with white irises. I pulled out my pokedex to see what I would be facing with Mattie.

_Electrike, the lightning pokemon. It generates electricity using friction from the atmosphere. In seasons with especially arid air, its entire body blazes with violent showers of sparks. Electrike nests are common on the routes of one-ten and one-eighteen._

I then turned to the other of the two pokemon, which looked a lot like the electrike. It had an electric blue body and yellow armor over its head, which was pointed straight up on this pokemon, extending over its nose, its shoulders, front paws, and hips. Its eyes were a vibrant red color with its short tail sticking straight up in the air. I then pointed my pokedex at that pokemon too.

_Manectric, the discharge pokemon and the evolved form of electrike. Because lightning falls in their vicinities, manectric were thought to have been born from lightning. In battle, they create thunderclouds. They rarely appear before people. Manectric nests are rare and can only be scarcely be found on route one-eighteen. _

"So this is what we get to fight, eh?" I grinned. "Bring it; I can't wait to battle you."

"Good. I'll see you at one, on the dot for our battle." The gym leader then took off into the crowd, grinning the entire time.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Nice Mattie, I think that last combo might really put us over the edge with facing Wattson."

"You really think so, Jezebel?" The younger male blinked up worriedly at me. "I-I mean, I-I feel a lot stronger, but will Guardian and I-I b-be able to make it through their tag team?"

I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "Mattie, stop worrying. We've got this. I _know_ you can do it." I looked back onto the battlefield before us that we had used in one of the rough areas that were still under construction in the instance that we would have destroyed the area with our training. It was a good idea we did that, because we were a mess when we were all done.

To help train Blade and Guardian as a tag team all over again, we used the first part of the hour just getting our orders down where we wouldn't have the two of them running into each other, since they were listening to trainers now compared to just their own minds, like the last time they tag teamed a few weeks to a month ago. They were still an amazing team, just like the good old days when they were ralts, but they improved a lot of their abilities and combinations. To help us out with training, Aria and Casey decided to tag against us, and maybe see if Wattson would allow them the same double match for two gym badges. We faced off against Aria's beldum, who fucken evolved during our battle into a metang, and Casey's marshtomp, which had evolved since we last saw him a week or so ago in Rustboro. I had to look up both of them to give me some information to help us battle him.

_Metang, the iron claw pokemon and the evolved form of beldum. It floats in midair using magnetism. Its body is so tough, even a crash with a jet plane won't leave a scratch. There are no known metang nests in the region._ Metang was now a body with arms rather than just an arm with a head attached to it. I could still see no physical mouth on him, but I didn't let that bother me. Its body was pretty massive to the point where Aria could sit on top of him and float around. He had massive metal claws that he used for tearing up everything and he had a pointy horn for a nose. His eyes were still red and his coloring of silver was still the same, with the exception now that his accents of claws and other metal parts that weren't silver were a rust orange color.

Marshtomp, on the other hand, had grown to where he could stand on his back legs and his coloring had gotten a bit brighter too, not as a vibrant blue as before. The orange accents that he had had spread to his stomach and fins were now on his back legs as well. He was quite cheery and jumping all over the place. _Marshtomp, the mud fish pokemon and the evolved form of mudkip. Its toughened hind legs enable it to stand upright. Because it weakens if its skin dries out, it replenishes fluids by playing in the mud. There are no known marshtomp nests in the region. _

The two of them were a force to be reckoned with due to the fact that Blade and Guardian didn't know many other attacks other than psychic type ones like confusion and teleport, and then using their physical strength or any little tricks they could. So we took things into our own hands and Mattie and I taught them all new moves to help them out in battle. Each one of us taught them three new moves to help out and give them a bit more of an edge, no matter what the battle was. Blade was so excited when I helped him learn three new punches to help him out, not to mention Guardian was thrilled when Mattie helped her learn her three new moves. Guardian learned the moves shadow ball, shock wave and magical leaf- ghost, electric and grass type moves. For Blade, I taught him fire punch, ice punch and thunder punch. He was so glad to be able to get more physical with other pokemon, and now that he knew more moves, it would help them.

"Well with that training out of the way, let's get going. It's almost one."

Once the moves were down pat, not to mention that we still had our old moves to use, we hurried over to the pokemon center and healed up and got to Wattson's gym just in time before the clock struck one. Casey and Aria headed over with us to watch our battle and see if they could get one after us against Wattson. Mattie was still nervous; he had a good grip on both my and Guardian's hands.

"Relax, Mattie. We're gonna do fine. Just remember our training. Believe in Guardian and Blade, because they believe in us." I gave the boy's hand a squeeze and he nodded lightly to me before we stepped onto one side of the field and stood in the box with our kirlias at our side. On the other side of the field stood Wattson, and it looked like he was raring to go.

"Alright! Just in time, you two!" He laughed and his two pokemon appeared at his side. The two of them stepped out onto the field and growled at us. "Okay, so here are the rules. You two and I are only allowed to use the first four pokemon we send out- your two pokemon and my two. There will be no substitutions or anything like that, and for both of you to win my badge, your pokemon both still have to be standing. Got it?"

"Loud and clear." I crossed my arms, momentarily taking my hands from Mattie's.

"R-right!" Mattie nodded furiously and a look of determination came to his face like it had earlier today when we battled. "Let's do this!"

His stuttering and worries were out of the way now. I could see the adrenaline pumping in his veins and his concentration going up. I grinned at him and looked to the other side of the field. We were finally ready to go. I uncrossed my arms and prepared to battle.

"Blade, Guardian, let's go." Both of our psychic type pokemon teleported out onto the field and glared down at the growling pokemon on the other side.

"Start out with shock wave Manectric!" The taller blue pokemon of the two suddenly lit up with electricity all over its body before releasing it in the form of an electrical bolt that was sent flying at our two.

"Mattie!" I looked over to him and he nodded.

He threw his hand at the field. "Guardian! Block the attack with shock wave!" Guardian suddenly teleported before Blade and released a shock wave of her own that collided with the oncoming attack. I watched as the two attacks were head and head for a few moments before a flux of energy came from the manectric and the attack became more powerful on his end and broke through Guardian's attack.

"Blade! Teleport!" In the second I had to call out my orders, Blade jumped forward to Guardian and pulled her into his arms before vanishing into the thin air.

"No way!" Wattson looked all around the field for the two of them, failing to realize that the two of them were just over his head.

"Now Guardian!" Mattie smiled. "Use magical leaf!" Guardian suddenly cried out, revealing her location to Wattson and his pokemon below while she was there. Leaves of a rainbow of varying colors suddenly flew out of nowhere and circled around her before they flew and attacked the small green pokemon of the two on the other side of the field.

"No! Electrike!" Suddenly Wattson's face turned fearful as he looked around for the other pokemon that had yet to reveal himself. "Where's the other one?"

"Glad to see you noticed." Wattson looked at me in shock. "But sadly it won't help you now. Now Blade! Use a combination of fire and ice punch on the manectric!"

Blade suddenly teleported to the area before the manectric with two fists of fire and ice that trailed behind him with their varying tails of blazes and ice crystals. He swung the first punch. It landed on the manectric's face, throwing the pokemon back onto its hind legs, and it also was the fire one of the two, giving the poor pokemon a burn on the side of its face. Next came the ice punch, it hit smack in the middle of the pokemon's body, right around the stomach. A large ice clot formed there before Blade threw another punch at the other side of the stomach and it was the fire one again, burning the other side.

"No! Manectric!" Wattson cursed under his breath. "Use thunderbolt!"

The large of the electric types suddenly lit his body up with electricity and Blade was forced to fall back as the electricity came up too quickly. He teleported away to where he was next to Guardian, floating up in the air and continuing her barrage on the electrike.

"Damn it…" Wattson turned to his other pokemon. "Electrike! Fry those leaves with shock wave!"

"Elec!" The small body of green lit up with electricity and all the leaves that entered the field of lightning around it got fried and vanished. Guardian cut off her attack and the two of our pokemon teleported back to our sides where they could regroup and let the other side do so as well. Both of the electric pokemon were well worn from the few attacks just unleashed.

"Nice job you two; keep hanging in there!" Mattie cheered our two pokemon on while we watched the two electric types that hobbled over to their trainer.

"Alright, we're taking out the big guns now." Wattson huffed and threw out a hand before him. "Electrike, use shock wave! Manectric, use thunder!"

The two electric type pokemon then combined their attacks. The two pokemon cried out and unleashed their attack, sending it flying over in our direction.

"Guardian!" Mattie cried out. "Use protect!"

Guardian suddenly threw he body before Blade and took the hit head on with a bright blue shield around her that threw the electricity away. But it was a powerful attack; there was no way for the poor pokemon to be able to hold it up for long.

I gritted my teeth. "Blade, now! Finish them off with psychic!"

Blade's eyes glowed a dark purple and from the cries I suddenly heard on the other side of the field, I knew it was working. Suddenly the field that was around Guardian was suddenly gone and she fell to the ground, but still was conscious. The attack had been disposed of on the other side of the field as the two electric pokemon were rolling on the ground in pain. While Blade continued to use his attack, he made his way over to where Guardian was a few feet before him and allowed her to use his body to stand up. Once she was standing, she supported herself on him while she watched the end of the battle take place with Blade using his psychic powers to knock the two pokemon out and pushing their bodies back toward Wattson.

His eyes wide, Wattson watched his two pokemon be carried and set down before him. He looked at the two knocked out pokemon, with the swirls over their eyes, and knew that he was done. Wattson sighed and then returned the two of his pokemon to their pokeballs before he walked over to our side of the field.

"Well that's a lot different than what I expected." Wattson shook his head before he suddenly let out a chuckle. He then burst out laughing before he reached into his pocket and walked to this side of the room. Blade and Guardian had already returned to our sides, Mattie carrying Guardian since she was a bit hurt and worn out. Blade stood proudly at my side, almost as if he was demanding Wattson to even try to not give me the badge that Mattie and I deserved. "You two kids certainly threw me for a loop. Nice job on that battle. Here, for both of you." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and handed a badge to each of us. The badge itself was like a gold and silver coiled wire with two ends sticking off the sides of it. "That's the dynamo badge. Now that you two have beaten me, you're ready for Flannery. I'll message her that you two are heading her way."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Aria called out from the side. "Can we battle you as soon as your pokemon are healed?"

Wattson grinned and laughed. "Get you and your partner down here on the field, then. I'd love another battle! Just let me take a moment to heal up my pokemon." Wattson took his two pokemon and himself out of the room while Aria and Casey raced down the stairs.

"Great job, you guys!" Aria was the quickest to hug the two of us. "You two and Blade and Guardian were an amazing team!"

"I'll say," Casey grinned as he put in his own two cents. "Nice job you guys and great moves out there!" He clenched his fist. "Now Aria and I have to prove that we're just as strong as the two of you, and if not, then stronger!"

"Sure, Casey," I snorted at him. "We'll see."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Have you beaten me yet in battle?" I couldn't help but feel a confident streak flow through me on the high of winning my third badge. "I'll agree that you're close to me in strength, but there's no way that you're stronger than me."

He snorted and stepped out before me. "Is that a challenge I'm sensing from you?"

I scoffed. "A challenge?" An evil glint appeared in my eyes. "More like an invitation to see if you could _try_."

"Oh… you are so going to lose for that. I'm gonna beat your ass!" Casey's fist clenched and appeared right before both of our faces. "Just you wait, Jez, I will beat you."

"Keep dreaming, but…" I turned on my heels and headed toward the door while waving my hand to him. "You're welcome to try as many times as you like! You know how to reach me!"

I left without another word after that. Blade needed to be healed and I wanted to leave before I said something that may have really offended Casey and made him feel like I didn't believe in him. Sure he was an amazing trainer, even as young a one as we all are. But for him to beat me?

I snorted just thinking about it. "That's impossible… only Violet or Gwyn could, I bet… but…" I suddenly felt my heart take a turn for the worst as I remembered my uncle and his image showed up in my mind. "I can't afford to lose right now…"

"Jezebel!" I halted and turned to look at the young boy who was racing behind me to catch up. I wasn't really surprised to see that it was Mattie, nor the fact that his uncle was chasing after him again. What did surprise me, though, was when the boy finally caught up with me, his breathing was extremely ragged, as if he'd just run a one-hundred mile marathon and had the lungs of an old man. I blinked in bewilderment at him before I placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him to look up at me while he tried to breathe.

"Are you all right, Mattie? You look really out of breath."

"This is what I was worried about." Mattie's uncle rushed up next to us and pulled Mattie away from me and forced the boy to look at him. "Mattie, we need to return back to my home. You need your rest, you've already had two extreme battles today, and while I am proud of you, you shouldn't push yourself so hard."

"But U-uncle!" The boy began to cough more profusely then before. "I-I'm fi-fine!"

"Mattie, it's not going to hurt to get some rest." The boy turned to me with a set of downcast eyes. "It's only one night, you'll have plenty more battles and excitement tomorrow, and it _is_ getting late." I looked to see the setting sun off in the distance and Mattie, while still upset over it, nodded. "Hey, don't be so blue. I'll come visit you tomorrow alright?"

"Really?" The boy's attitude changed instantly who had once not wanted to go back, but now was excited to maybe look forward to tomorrow. "Yo-you'll do that?"

"Of course. That's what friends do, right? And I'd love to see Verdanturf Town again; it's been a few years since I've been at that beautiful location." I leaned forward and kissed the boy's forehead. "Now go get some rest and take it easy. We'll make up for this tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay Jezebel." He nodded and quickly came up to hug me before his uncle silently thanked me and took Mattie back with him down the path to the west.

Once Mattie was gone, though, and I was left to my thoughts once more, I was left to the darkness that I'd felt once before. I felt the evil of my uncle's gaze haunting me, and I knew I had to be the one to take him down, even if it ruined my family forever.

And no one could ever know of it.

**Witch's Note:**

**Finally! Took me a bit of time to do this chapter, got a little side tracked lately. Oh well, live, learn, move on. So we have another chapter where we have another gym badge and we find out that Mattie's a **_**hell**_** of a trainer! Anyone expect him to have some powerful pokemon like Jez?**

**Alright you people, you know what to do now. I'll see you all next week, but in the mean time you could ever so nicely leave me a Review or two and some Questions for the Q's &amp; A's page.**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	11. Visiting Mattie's Old Home Town

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 11: Visiting Mattie's Old Home Town_

**Mattie's Point of View:**

"Are you s-sure you guys? She se-seemed fine to me." I was situated back in my uncle's home in Verdanturf Town after my victory with Jezebel at the Mauville City gym. While I was still happy over our victory, Aria and Casey had called me shortly after to talk with me about some events that took place that caused Jezebel not to act like herself.

"_She may have been, Mattie, but something really wrong happened._" Aria was quick to argue against me on the other side of the line. "_She met up with the head of Team Aqua the other day and since then she's been depressed as shit._"

"_Well… in anyone's defense, they would be really worried about the head of a criminal organization._" I heard Casey sigh on the other end of the line.

"_Yeah, but Jez doesn't get worried!_"

"Aria, Casey, please calm down…" I slowly began to talk in hopes of them calming down enough so we could talk about this. They eventually did. "I-I'll pay close attention to-tomorrow, w-when I-I see her…"

I could imagine the two of them sighing as I could hear their breathing calming down on the other side of the phone. "_Okay, then. We're counting on you, Mattie. Thanks._"

"It's not a problem. Goodnight." The line went dead after that, with their goodnights said as well. My team sat around me and looked worried as I lay down on my bed and they all curled around me.

"Kirl?" Guardian questioned as she placed her head on my chest. Roza was on my other side while Luna was curled up at my head, all physically touching me in some form.

"Yeah, something's up with Jezebel… just like you though." I sighed and sadly looked to all my pokemon before showing them a weak smile. "But we'll help her out, no matter how long it takes… but Uncle's right… I'm tired…" I laid my head down and allowed my eyes to slowly close. Luna was quick to jump from my head and turn off the lights while Guardian placed the blanket over us all and Luna returned to her spot. My eyes gently closed and I felt myself drift to a slumber that was centered on my close friends.

**Jezebel's Point of View (the next morning):**

My night was filled with off and on sleep. It was difficult to get any sleep with the haunting fact of my uncle on my mind. I'd finally decided that I would be the one to take him out, when I got the chance, but it hurt so much to think of how much it would affect my family. My father would be devastated. So would Aunt Shelly and my cousins. He means so much to them and they look up to him. He was my dad's older brother after all, and with Aunt Shelly and Caspian and Nixie… that's their husband and dad… I can only imagine how much that would hurt… especially with how much my dad has been there for me since the beginning of my life.

Due to my restless sleep, my pokemon sadly had to suffer the same fate, most of them anyway. Spinner had been peacefully sleeping on the other pillow of the bed, Silky was next to him, but unfortunately for her, her wings were fanned out over my face, she could sense and feel every action and movement I made. Blade and Blaze were no better as they lay on either side of me to keep warm during the night and keep _me_ warm as well. I woke them up every time in the middle of the night. I couldn't help but feel extremely guilty as my body woke them with no reason. Of course that was a lie. There was a reason. I just refused to voice it and let my horrified thoughts tell my team how I really felt through Blade's psychic powers.

_I'm sorry for keeping all of you up…_ I sighed as my thoughts drifted and Blade easily caught them in his now awakened state and he passed them through to the others. Spinner was the only one who seemed to be wide awake and had a good night's sleep. My other pokemon were all right with what they had, which was the same as me, but it seemed that Blade was slightly more irritated because of it. I'd hoped nothing bad happened today or else someone would be getting all their fury…

Without waiting for Casey and Aria, who had asked me to wait up for them in the morning to head to Verdanturf Town together, I quickly grabbed breakfast for me and my team before setting out to the west, following the fields and route of flowers.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, as my pokenav's time neared one, I had arrived in Verdanturf Town to be amazed once again by the natural beauty of this place. Flowers cascaded over every hill and it was peacefully placed at the base of a mountain cave that led from here to just north of Rustboro. Vines and moss of all types were at the base of every house. Each house seemed to have thick concrete walls to keep the plants from deteriorating it. These plants seemed to then cascade over the walls- at least the vines did- and work their way up to nearly the roofs. It was a town entirely dedicated to nature and a more natural way of life than that of the modern day cities that we often traveled through on a day to day basis.

With it nearing one, I thought it would be a good time then to actually get some food for my pokemon and me. Blaze and Blade walked before me and opened the door to the pokemon center for me and the others and we all sat down at a table. I pulled out a menu and handed one to all members of my team so we could look over what there was to eat.

"Jezebel?" I blinked when I heard my name and looked up. Right there was Mattie in the doorway with his three pokemon with him. Luna was in his arms, enjoying being on her back and playing with her tail while Guardian and Roza stood at Mattie's sides, holding onto the boy's planted legs in order to not be separated from him, even in the very small crowd of people that were here.

"Hey Mattie, good afternoon." I gave the boy a smile and pushed all worries of mine to the back of my mind while I began to converse with him.

"Hi… wh-what are you doing here?" He looked away from me for a moment before he walked over next to my table.

"I'm here for some lunch. We got hungry." I handed him my menu. "Would you like to join us?"

He quickly shook his head, and most likely would have done the same thing if his arms were free too. "No… but… I was go-going to call you soon…" I raised my eye brow at him as he seemed to have reverted back into his old self and became shy, looking away as he was mulling over what he wanted to tell me. "My fa-family and I-I wanted t-to invi-ite you over t-to ou-our home for lu-lunch…"

"Oh? That's sweet of you guys." I pulled back my menu and set it on the table, as did the rest of my team who had one in their hands. "Your family and you didn't have to do that for us."

"Bu-but we w-want-ted to." The boy's face suddenly flushed red in embarrassment. He hid himself behind his hair. "Please?"

I smiled at the boy and stood up. I pecked the sweet boy's cheek and he whipped his head up to look at me at his side. "Lead the way." I motioned for my team to follow after me and they were quickly standing before Mattie and his pokemon. He only had to think about it for a moment before he nodded and quickly took my hand in his (after shifting his arms so Luna still had a hand holding onto her while she continued to play with her tail, that was.)

A short walk later I found myself before a very large house right on the edge of the mountain. It was a cute house that fit many of the descriptions of the other houses around town, but this one also seemed to have many personal gardens planted around it and many berry trees. Outside of the home I actually saw a woman with dark green hair that only looked a few years older than Mattie that was picking some berries with a couple local grass type pokemon that seemed to belong to her.

The first was a pokemon known as Nuzleaf. It was a first evolution of a seedot, who also happened to be surrounded by a group of its pre-evolution. Seedot were small acorn looking like pokemon that had small feet at the base of their bodies and eyes just below their acorn cap heads.

Nuzleaf, the evolved form, has a body that has a bit of a human shape. Its body is a brown color and seems to have some sort of thicker tan, clothing-like piece that went over its pelvis area. Tan circles were around its eyes and a leaf had sprouted on the top of its head. Its nose was also pointed out. I pointed my pokedex at the two of them.

_Seedot, the acorn pokemon. If it remains still, it becomes impossible to distinguish from real nuts. It hangs off branches and absorbs nutrients. When it finishes eating, its body becomes so heavy that it drops to the ground with a thump. Seedot nests are rare and tend to only be found on routes one-oh-two, one-seventeen, and one-twenty._

_Nuzleaf, the wily pokemon and the evolved form of seedot. It is a forest-dwelling pokemon that is skilled at climbing trees. Its long and pointed nose is its weak point. It loses power if the nose is gripped. Nuzleaf nests are extremely few to none and are only recorded to be found on route one-fourteen. _

The other set of pokemon that was out with the woman was a set of desert-dwelling grass type Pokemon- The spiky grass types known as cacnea and cacturne. Cacnea, the first stage of the evolution series of this breed, was a small spiked grass type that had two thick arms and stubby little feet attached to its body. It was a light green in color and had a small yellow flower on its head. It had some black spots on the front of its face that represented its mouth. A small group of them were gathered around at the base of the cacturne's feet.

The cacturne on the other hand was very tall and had both thick arms and legs. A thick crown of dark green had grown on its head like a triangular cap. Its entire body was a light green color like its pre-evolution and had dark green spikes all over it. Its eyes were a bit more serious than all the other pokemon. It almost seemed to be acting like a bodyguard more than anything else while it's pre-evolution, at its feet, was gathering berries.

_Cacnea, the cactus pokemon. Cacnea live in deserts with virtually no rainfall. It battles by swinging its thick, spiked arms. Once a year, a yellow flower blooms. It can survive for thirty days on water stored in its body. Cacnea are rare and tend to only be found on route one-eleven in the desert._

_Cacturne, the scarecrow pokemon and the evolved form of cacnea. It lives in deserts. It becomes active at night when it hunts for prey exhausted from the desert's heat. There are no known cacturne nests in this region._

I put away my pokedex just in time to for the woman to notice us and turn around. She gasped and smiled brightly when she saw us and hurried over to Mattie, hugging him briefly before then hugging me. I blinked in shock.

"Oh, thank you for joining us today, Jezebel! I've heard so much about you from Mattie!" The woman pulled back and handed the basket to the pokemon she was with before holding out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Mary, Mattie's cousin. We were just gathering some fresh berries to make some dessert for after lunch."

I took her hand. "It's nice to meet you as well, but…" I blushed slightly from under her innocent gaze. "You didn't have to do any of this for me."

"Oh, but we wanted to!" The girl nearly squealed into my ear. "Mattie hasn't had a friend in a really long time, and to see him so excited to begin his journey as a pokemon trainer and moving around is such an amazing thing!" She suddenly yanked me into her arms. "You don't know how much we appreciate all you've done for him!"

"M-mary!" Mattie shouted with a heavy blush and a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Oh, don't be like that, Mattie! She's such a sweet girl!" She pulled along on my arm and dragged me toward the house. "You should come inside! My boyfriend and mother are really interested in meeting you! Oh and you have such cute pokemon too!" She bent her legs to reach their level, or at least that of Blade and Blaze while looking up to my head and shoulders to face Silky and Spinner. "What are all their little names?"

"This here is Blaze, my combusken." He shook her hand with his clawed one, nodding to her. "And this is Blade, my kirlia." Blade only nodded to her, still in quite the sour mood today. I then pointed up on my head. "This is Silky, my beautifly, on my head, and on my shoulder is Spinner, my surskit." Both of them gave her happy cries and gently shook her hands with one of their own.

"Oh it's so lovely to meet you all!" She tugged on my hand again. "Come inside! Dinner's almost ready and I'm starting in on those pies now that I have some fresh berries! I heard from Mattie that you love iapapa berries! We're making that pie specifically for you!"

"…Thank you." The words flew out of my mouth before I could even think about what to say. This was a real family before me that wanted to thank me just for being friends with their nephew and all the outcomes that have come up because of it. I couldn't believe it, I've never met a family that was so… happy… or nice… or that _wanted_ to get to know me. My mother never allowed that, which was why I was always alone…

"Jezebel?" I turned to Mattie and he held out his hand. "Come inside, I-I'll introduce you to everyone." I nodded silently, still stunned by the extremely warm welcome, and allowed the younger boy to lead me toward the house with my pokemon and my sides and Mary trailing not far behind, giggling behind her hand.

Mattie led me through the front door, which was a vibrant mahogany red color, and within the large home was an elegant open floor plan of the entire first floor. A set of stairs was right before me, but off to the side was an open living room where a large flat screen TV was on and a couple males were watching a pokemon match, most likely what was going on in the pokemon league right now. On the opposite side, there was an extremely large dining room that a woman was setting up at that moment. She looked much like Mary with vibrant green hair that was braided on her head and hung off her shoulder.

"Oh, hello there! You must be Jezebel!" The woman was quick to finish her work at the table and look over at me. "I'm Lucy, Mattie's aunt and Mary's mother. Welcome to our home."

"Dude, she's here?" I whipped my head to the side and watched as an older male teen boy around Mary's age leapt over the couch and raced at me. A male with spiky black hair and a muscular looking figure that actually looked like someone who worked with logging jumped out before me. Bright blue eyes glanced into my emerald ones and he grinned when he saw my pokemon. "Dude! About time you got here. I've been wanting to meet you for ages now!"

"Dustin! We do not talk to guests like that!" Lucy snapped at the male, but he seemed to be ignoring her as he focused on me.

"So what was he like? The leader of that criminal gang? How'd you beat him? I wanna sock the guy!" Dustin began throwing his fist around as if the leader of Team Aqua was right here, right now. Mattie's uncle was quick to the rescue by running around the couch and grabbing the boy's arms and twisting it behind his back, instantly calming him down as he howled in pain.

"Dustin, what have I told you?"

"Yeah, yeah Pops, I got it." The male sighed and walked over to Mary and put an arm around her waist. "But seriously Jez, you gotta tell us about how you took him out!"

"Dustin!" Mary was the one to snap this time and actually hit her boyfriend's arm. He flinched a bit at that as she scowled at him and turned back to look at her.

"He let me go, and everything that I was doing too." This grabbed all the attention of the people in the house, even Mattie as he worriedly looked at me. "He didn't do anything to me and neither me to him either. He let the parts go, but he said he'd be back for the submarine." I shook my head. "I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

"And rightfully so, you poor thing. Get that man out of your head and go wash up, you and all your pokemon, for a home cooked meal." Lucy was quick to change the subject as she wrapped an arm around me and glared at Dustin. "Go get the food and sit at the table, Dustin, and if everything's not there when I get back, oh trust me, you're going to get it."

The younger male nodded easily and, with a heavy head, walked toward the kitchen.

"Now don't worry about him; he's just curious." Lucy smiled and led me to the table. "The bathroom is that door right straight ahead. Go on and wash up and I'll help Dustin bring out the food." I nodded and walked to where she pointed.

Mattie rushed up to my side. "I'm r-really sorry Jezebel; I didn't t-think that Dustin w-would be like that…"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it, just because he asks doesn't mean I have to answer."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After the short introduction to the rest of Mattie's family (and finally getting over my knowing feelings in my chest from thinking about my uncle), I found out a whole lot more about his family. Dustin was a logger that worked in the woods to the north of town where the forests are. He worked with his family there for a pretty good pay. Mary and her parents ran a berry farm here on their house lot and a section to the side where they sell berries to trainers and non-trainers for flavor and status healing reasons.

They asked questions about me too- where I came from, who my family was. Dustin took great interest in my father being the Petalburg gym leader, asking about the types of pokemon he used and what kinds of pokemon as well. I tried to give as few details to him as I could. While I was a trainer that would put all the knowledge I knew about a gym leader to good use in battle with them, I would never openly tell others about the weaknesses of my father and his team. It makes the battle entirely unfair and uneven for those who want a good battle. Even if Dustin wasn't a trainer, that didn't mean I was going to reveal every detail to him.

The meal that Lucy and Mary had cooked for us was one of the most amazing I'd had in all my life. Everything was extremely fresh, as if they'd just pulled it out of the garden moments before cooking it for our supper. We had potatoes, fresh salad, a green bean casserole and a berry salad, not to mention some fresh meat that was cooked and some fish that was just picked up from the market in Slateport just a few hours prior to my arrival. My pokemon looked to be all so stuffed that they didn't know what to do with themselves.

When the meal was finally over, Mattie had offered to show me the berry trees in the orchard and Mary and Dustin offered to come along. I'd been told to take some berries with me for my journey through the desert and soot routes tomorrow, and so they wanted me to have plenty of fruit that would provide me and my team with enough nutrition and liquids until we reached either Fallarbor Town or Lavaridge Town, depending on which paths are blocked or open. I'd need to get to the top of Mt. Chimney to get to Lavaridge, otherwise I'd have a long climb ahead of me. In the instance where the tram wasn't working or I'd need to find another way there, I could rest at Fallarbor Town for a night and then try again the next day when I'd have more energy.

Looking through the trees now, I reached to pick another pecha berry from a tree before adding it to my almost already full basket. My team and I would most certainly not be going hungry tomorrow. I had berries of all kinds in it, of all flavors of spicy, sour, sweet, dry and bitter. All of my pokemon and even I had different tastes, it was better to have a wide variety than not.

"Does this look like enough Jezebel?" Mary walked over to me with another basket in hand, entirely full of berries. I gaped at the older girl and sighed.

I shifted in my spot. "But I'm out of room, Mary; I don't think I can take all these berries with me. Not to mention, this is a lot more then I feel comfortable taking from you, even if you have said it's okay."

She waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Before you go, my mother and I plan to repack a nice large basket with all of these little berries for you, so you don't have to worry about that."

I sighed. "If you're sure."

"I am."

"Jezebel, s-she means well. W-we all do." Mattie came up next to me and took hold of my free hand. "W-why don't we g-go and get th-these berries packed up a-and you can stay here w-with us for the night." The boy's face was entirely red as he said this, but he held his ground and looked quite determined.

I couldn't help but smiled at his cute face. "Sure Mattie, that sounds really nice. Let me just get the other basket from Mary-"

"Damn you fucken thieves! Get the fuck back here and give back those berries! Cacturne, attack!" I whipped my head around to see vaguely the resemblance of a battle taking place where we could hear Dustin's voice. Mary gasped and set down her basket before taking off in that direction.

"Dustin!" she cried out to him.

"Come on, Mattie!" I dropped the basket in my hands and raced with my pokemon, Mattie, and his own pokemon to the same location. I gasped when we first got there; I was not expecting this to be taking place in the small town of Verdanturf.

Dustin had been forced to the ground by a male that was dressed in darkly colored clothes that seemed to be a dark grey color. The clothes were shaggy looking; they seemed to cover all of his body up to his upper chest, where a red hood was there that covered the top part of the chest too. A strange symbol looking like that of a 'm' was on his chest and the hood covered his face. Four others seemed to be with him, they all had out pokemon and were carrying machines that were rapidly picking the berries that were in the fields.

"The berries!" Mary screeched when she saw this, and then again at her boyfriend. "Dustin!"

"L-let h-him go!" Mattie had all of his pokemon out and they growled at the five invaders. "Give us back our berries!"

"Like we'd listen to you. Now run away to mommy," one of the few of them said, the only female of the group who was working the machines that were collecting berries.

_So this must have been the infamous Team Magma… at last we meet._ I couldn't help but inwardly grin at what had taken place. While the day that I'd spent with Mattie and his family was amazing, I needed something a bit more… _stimulating_ to unleash and control my anger from thinking about my uncle as the leader of Team Aqua.

"Silky, Blade, take back what they stole." My arms crossed themselves as my eyes locked onto our opponents. The female only glanced at me as Silky leapt off my head and Blade's eyes glowed.

"Ha! You really think you can stop the amazing Team Magma? A little girl like you doesn't know anything!" The woman only laughed as she returned to what she was doing.

I shook my head as I watched my pokemon become angry from her statement and Silky took to the sky above. Blade's eyes glowed a solid purple color before he raised a hand and Dustin disappeared from where he was held down on the other side of the field. He re-appeared next to Mary, and gasped when he could let his arms go and they flopped out against his sides.

"Dustin!" Mary rushed to his side, and once he was out of the way, Silky fluttered her wings before she fucken threw a tornado at them.

All five members were already startled when Dustin had vanished from their grip and now their equipment and berries were flying in the air, out of control. The container of berries and the berries themselves landed behind us, most of the berries landing back inside it. Once they were out of the way, Silky let the air die down before she threw a destructively beautiful silver wind at the other party.

"Now Blaze!" My fire type jumped forward and took a sudden breath before he ignited the vortex and Silky fled back to me. I took her into my arms before I suddenly turned away from the fire and heard the explosion and felt the enormous and sudden heat on my back.

I could hear the screams of the Team Magma members on the other side of the fire. I felt grateful to get out some frustration on them, but I felt a bit bad that they were being burned practically alive. I released Silky from my arms and turned back to look at the blaze, only to see that the fire was practically out and all the members were gone. I hissed; they had gotten away, but at least they were harmed. Now Team Magma had to look out for me too, and I had another group of villains on which to take out my anger…

"Jezebel?" Mattie was quick to come over to me once the battle was over. "A-are you alright?"

"I'm fine. They didn't exactly do anything to me; it was more I who was hurting them." I looked around at the area of the battle; sadly a few trees got part of their branches burned and were still on fire. I turned to Spinner. "You think you could put out those last little things of fire?"

"Sur!" He jumped from my shoulder and raced over to the trees and started to fire water attacks at them to put out the fire. While he did that, I turned to Mary.

"I'm sorry for singeing a few of your berry trees-"

"Oh, Jezebel! You saved the berries and our berry farm!" The girl tackled me in a hug that sent us flying onto the ground. "Oh, you have no idea how thankful I am! Don't worry about the little burns! We'll cut them off and new branches will grow in the next year's crop! They needed a trimming anyway! And with the help of that evil organization, we don't have to pick most of the berries and can head to the big farmer's market tomorrow and make lots of money so we can keep up with this lovely lifestyle we have! Thank you! Thank you!"

"M-mary! Get o-off of her!" Mattie rushed over to pull the older woman off, but sadly his thin, frail arms could do nothing against his older cousin.

"Let me help you out there, shrimp." Dustin walked over to the smaller boy that I called my friend, and easily hooked an arm around Mary's waist and threw her up and over his shoulder. She screeched and hit his back when he did that, but he only smiled at us.

"I'll take her back to the house and tell the folks the good news; I'll meet you guys back there so we can pack your baskets, Jez." I nodded to him from my spot on the ground and the older male took off with his girlfriend shouting at him the entire time. When he faded from sight, I turned back to Mattie.

"H-here Jezebel… l-let me help you up." I took the boy's extended hand and he threw his entire weight into helping me up, so that when I made it to my feet, he slipped out of my grip and fell himself. My eyes widened and I gasped, hurrying over to the boy.

"Mattie! You okay?" The boy nodded and looked up at me with a sad look. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "It's n-nothing."

"Here," I shot him out my hand. "At least let me help you up since you fell from helping me up."

He took a moment to think the idea over while I waited there for him to decide. After a moment, he finally decided yes because he took ahold of my hand and I yanked him up. He let out a yelp as he was pulled harshly to his feet.

"There, all back on your feet." I gave the boy a grin and he smiled at that.

"Jezebel?" I blinked at him. "C-can I ask you a question?"

"Technically you already did, but sure, ask away." I snorted a laugh and I saw him lightly smile before it slowly vanished and he looked at me worriedly.

"I w-was wondering… would you m-mind if I traveled w-with you for a w-while?" I tilted my head almost vaguely to the side at his question. "I-I want to l-learn how to g-get str-ronger… I think I-I can do t-that with you… I… I want-ted to ask you b-back in Rust-boro… but I-I…" his face flushed red with embarrassment, "I d-didn't think you would say y-yes…"

"Mattie, relax." The boy dared to look up at me with worried and hurt eyes and I quickly pulled him in for a hug. "I do want you to go with me. I'd love for you to journey with me, you're such a good friend, and I love talking with you, not to mention, you've put up one of the best battles that I've ever seen in a long time." I snorted a laugh as the boy looked at me stunned, once again. "Matthew Ashling, will you journey with me across the Hoenn region so that we may learn and become some of the best trainers out there?"

"Yes!" He raced to hug me again and I laughed as he did so.

"Hey! There they are!" I turned my head toward the voices I heard and watched as Aria and Casey rushed up to us, running through the trees before they stopped before us and panted as if they'd been jogging for a really long time.

"What's up, you guys?" I turned to face the two of them. Aria sighed and hissed before she swatted Casey. He yowled at the pain before he raced to hit her and I grabbed his arm before he could do so, twisting it behind his back and he howled in pain again.

"Why are you ganging up on _me_?" He cried out and hissed when Aria began to approach him. "Back off, you bitch!"

"Hold him still for a minute, Jez, I need to hit him a few more times!" Right as she was about to take a swing at him, I let him go and he jumped out of the way before he charged at her. The two of them then started to hit each other in the middle of the orchard. A few words including 'sleeping in too long' and 'fucking bastard' came to my ears.

I shook my head and took Mattie's hand. "Come on, Mattie, let's leave them to their own devices, then." Mattie nodded and followed after me as I led him away.

**Third Person Point of View:**

Within a faraway hidden base in the deep sea routes of the Hoenn region, Archie Twain sat at his desk watching some footage of the battle that took place between the girl he knew and his team's archenemy, Team Magma. He sighed heavily as he looked over the footage again and again to see the girl so easily take out an operation and the sheer command over her team she had without even having to let out a command, as if they knew her commands and never had to say them. Although she did have a psychic type on her team…

"Archie." The man raised his hand and looked to the beautiful woman at his side. It was the same woman who had been on the boat with the orders to obtain the scanner a few weeks ago. She placed her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek before sitting on the edge of his desk. "Going over the footage of that girl again?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I just don't understand how this girl works, Shelly; I don't understand why she's against us."

"Not everyone sees things the same way as us. At least we know she's against Team Magma as well." The woman looked at the footage once again. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all."

"True, Love, but what bothers me the most is that she is able to control her pokemon so easily and that they contain such power… to have that kind of strength behind us would be amazing."

"Such a child as that won't be easily swayed, Hon." Shelly shook her head. "Caspian and Nixie are with the grunts in the warehouse right now going over our pokemon stock. Should I give them some more orders once they finish?"

"No, send them home. As much as I appreciate all that they are doing for us and share our support in a common dream, I don't want the two of them to get too deep. If we were to be caught… at least my brother would take them in, but still… that would take us away from them."

"I know the risks, and so do they." The woman sighed and looked down at her hand to see the gold band on her finger as well as the engagement ring. "I'm just glad Jezebel isn't a part of all of this large mess. She has to deal with so much shit from her mother already… I hate to say it, but I'm glad it's just her mother she has to worry about."

"You and me both, Shelly." Archie sighed. "Now we have to get back to other things. Send in Admin Aqua. I have a new mission for her."

"Right away, sir." She jumped off the table; the informal matters dealt with, and now was back to business. She opened the door to Archie's office. A woman with short red hair and glittering ice blue eyes walked into the room.. A neutral look was upon her face as she stepped up to the desk in her admin uniform of a long blue skirt that was split on the side up to her hip and a strapless black shirt that covered her chest along with a set of blue boots that reached up to her knees. She stood at attention before the desk while Shelly stood off to the side.

"Admin, I have a new mission for you over in the east." Archie stood up and stepped before his desk while she stood at attention. "Now that we've discovered a more solid possible location for where Kyogre's whereabouts are, I want you checking out all caves to the east, and I want your undercover partner that infiltrated Team Magma to give me an update as soon as possible, we need to know what they plan to do soon."

The woman slightly bowed to him. "As you command, sir; we'll have an update for you tonight; tomorrow night at the latest, should it be hard or difficult to get through to him." She stood up and slowly made her way out of the room to leave her boss alone to deal with his own work and thoughts.

Once Admin Aqua was outside of the office, she dived for one of the storage rooms before she set out. She set herself behind a large set of boxes and containers before she looked at both of her arms. She then put her mouth on the end of the longest finger and pulled, and suddenly the skin seemed to be pulled off, only to reveal a mechanical arm. She did the same thing with her other hand before she opened one of the arms to reveal a pokeball inside, one that was cushioned and hidden. She grinned madly when she saw it before she licked it and allowed the arm to close.

She then turned to the other arm and used a couple buttons that were set up on it. It took a few minutes for a small signal amplifier and screen to appear on her arm as well, the rod sticking out of her tallest finger and the screen on the underarm. Once it was on, the screen took shape of a man on the other side of the screen. He was in a Team Magma uniform, but seemed to have a similar look to that of the female. He had short red hair as well, but his seemed to be slightly longer when compared to the length of the hair on the female's head.

"All right, Razi. They're sending me out, finally," Admin Aqua, or her real identity, Rosalie Agustino, said to her younger brother.

"_I know Sis; I just got news of that myself. We finally moved into our hidden base in Mt. Chimney. Some of our members that can stand up to the heat down toward the center of the volcano and those that are digging tunnels down there are trying to search for Groudon. Maxie's got me down here right now working on that._"

"Good, and how many members have you recruited into our forces?"

"_The number's still a bit low, Sis, but I got a few more today. It's a bit of a slow process to sway some people to our side since it's hard to judge some of these members and make sure they're not so afraid of you that they don't work under you, but are afraid enough not to double cross us._"

"Whatever you have will do, Razi. I shall contact you again later tonight for information about Team Magma's plans up near Fallarbor Town. Archie wants to know as soon as possible."

"_You got it Sis; I'll see you later, then. Don't kill too many people and pokemon while I'm gone. We need to stay in disguise for a little while longer until we get enough forces that are strong enough to take down Violet and Gwyn once and for all._"

"And then my dream will come true… a world without them… and where my husband and I rule the world!"

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh boy… here we go. We now see what happened to Rose and Razi, they're being sneaky little bastards, aren't they? But it's so cute that Mattie and Jez plan to travel together! I can't wait to show you guys what happens between them on their journey together!**

**So like always everyone, I hope that you leave me a Review or some Questions about this chapter or anything that took place you want to know about or tell me. I love to hear your feedback!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	12. The Desert and Soot Routes

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 12: The Desert and Soot Routes_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After Aria and Casey finished trying to kill each other yesterday, we had another amazing meal over at Mattie's uncle's house. With a meal almost similar to what we had earlier in the afternoon, we were all stuffed a short while later. Once the meal was over, we spent the night at their house as well; Aria and I shared an extra room while Mattie shared his room with Casey. When the morning came up, I was up with the sun from heading to bed early to make up for the sleep that I hadn't gotten the night before. I saw Mattie a short while later, all ready to go at the crack of dawn.

"You ready to head out, Mattie?" The boy nodded to me.

"L-let's grab the baskets of b-berries, we're not t-that hungry right now." My pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs and Blaze grabbed one of the baskets while Blade carried the other one with his psychic powers. Without waiting on the others that were still in bed, we stepped out of the house and hurried on our way back to Mauville City to head north to the desert routes. Mattie was excited to head up to the north since he had never been out there before. He had heard of a specific flying type pokemon in the mountains that he wanted to capture and add to his team. It must have been a very cute one for Mattie to want it. He has nothing but cute pokemon on his team, but man, do they have a shit load of power…

It took us no more than a short while to make it over to Mauville City, and from there we journeyed north into the more rural terrain that led up to some more mountainous areas and the desert. It had been a long time since I'd been here, not since I was about nine and had left Lavaridge to escape my mother for a few hours. I remembered meeting a good old friend out here, one that I'd made a long time ago. She was one of the most playful and always kept a smile on my face…

Just as we were stepping out of a grassy area and into a more desert-like one that was trapped in a mountainous circle around it, I noticed something strange out in the desert. It almost looked like a tower was off in the distance. It was really strange. I maybe had seen it once before in the past, but I think I only saw it vaguely before it collapsed.

So how was it standing again?

"Hey Mattie, let's hold up before we head into the desert here." We'd only take a few steps inside and the boy quickly stopped on my order. "I remember that tower out there, but the last time I saw it a few years ago, it collapsed."

"I-I believe it's c-called the 'mirage tower'." Mattie blinked at the barely visible tower a short distance ahead of us. "It randomly a-appears every so many y-years to certain p-people, then vanishes…" He looked back at me. "B-but no one knows why…"

"Well, why don't we find out?" I pulled him along toward the tower as the winds in the desert slowly started to pick up and I returned my pokemon so they wouldn't be blown away or lost. "I need to go to the desert anyway to pick up another friend if she's still there."

"Another friend?" He latched onto me and returned his own pokemon as well. "O-one here in the desert?"

"Yeah, her name is Acey. She was great and spot on in everything she did, so my childlike mind named her that."

"Wh-what type of pokemon i-is she?"

"A trapinch." I grinned and stopped the boy. "Now cover your ears while I call out to her. I need to yell louder than normal because of the wind." He readily did so and when he was firmly covered, I turned away from his and called out over the winds. "_ACEY!_"

I suddenly felt something move out from under my foot. I shifted slightly over to the side and quickly a head popped up out of the sands. The head was large in size, with a small round body trailing behind it and squarish looking legs, four of them, and a tiny tail. The color of this species of pokemon was normally just as bright and tan as the sands, but my Acey was a dark greenish blue color with black eyes with a light green belly. She was quick to jump up and out of the sands and into my arms without a second thought.

"Acey!" I hugged the small desert pokemon in my arms like I had not seen her in years, which was entirely true. "Oh, I missed you, girl!"

"Gra!" she called out her own happiness as I twirled her in my arms. "Gra?"

"Yeah, I left my mother. Now I'm traveling the world to get stronger." I pulled out a pokeball and it was colored gold, black and red. It was a luxury ball that most of the rich people tend to use, but I won it off a rich person when they didn't have a whole bunch of cash on hand to pay me. "Now that I don't have to worry about her, you ready to travel and get stronger together? As a family like we always wanted to do?"

"Gra!" She hit her head on the front of the pokeball and in she flew as a flash of red light into the pokeball. It shook a couple times before it settled down and Acey was freshly caught. I released her back out; now that no one could capture her, she appeared back on the ground and grinned at me. "Gra!"

I pulled out my pokedex to get information about my newly captured pokemon. _Trapinch, the sand pit pokemon. Its big jaws crunch through boulders. Because its head is so big, it has a hard time getting back upright if it tips over onto its back. It lives in arid deserts. It makes a sloping pit trap in sand where it patiently awaits prey. This pokemon has only been seen in deserts on route one-eleven in this region. _

"Hey, Acey, do you mind doing us a little favor?" My pokemon tilted her head to the side as she looked to me in question. "We, first off, need a guide through the desert, and also, we wanted to check out that mirage tower. You mind giving us a hand?"

"Gra!" She jumped into the air and quickly dived into the sands before she suddenly ended up a few feet away from us in the direction of the tower. "Gra gra!"

"We're coming, Acey!" I quickly grabbed Mattie's hand and followed after my shiny trapinch, so happy to see her back with me and now a part of my family. It made me vaguely remember the first day I ever met Acey, so long ago…

**Jezebel's Memory (Still her Point of View):**

_I had just escaped the grip of my mother once more. She had been out at the market buying new groceries in Lavaridge and while she was gone, I snuck out of the window and took the tram up and down Mt. Chimney, one of the only ways to leave the town. I knew if I hurried, I could make it to either the soot forest on route one-thirteen or the desert on route one-eleven to hide and have some fun. I decided that the desert was the closer of the two and it would be easier to hide away from my mother in the thick of a desert. _

_After a short walk to the south, I made it to the desert with much time to spare in the day to enjoy some hot sun and warm weather and soft sand. I remember climbing into the caves on the edges of the desert to get a better look at the entire desert. From above I could watch some of the pokemon below that were playing with each other in the sand. I could see the cacnea and cacturne throwing sand at each other as if it was water or snow. Another group of trapinch were digging through the desert, making holes in the ground and watching them fill up almost instantly. _

_The warm breeze was amazing on my skin; the sand on the wind as well was tickling my cheeks. I couldn't help but giggle as I felt it on my skin and looked dreamingly down at the activities below. It was adorable to see the life working about below and see the life that I normally was hidden away from by my obsessive mother. _

_I suddenly felt something move next to me. To my shock, I saw a rarely colored trapinch sitting next to me. It was grinning as it plopped next to me and looked down at the ground below. I turned to look where it was looking and watched as most of the desert dwellers suddenly vanished from view as they mysteriously fell into large holes in the sandy ground. The trapinch by my side began to laugh and I couldn't help but laugh too as I watched the spectacle go about. _

_Turning back to the trapinch, it hopped up settle on my lap and grinned back at me. "Gra gra!"_

_"That was so cool! You made all of them fall right on the spot! You're like an ace at that! You must practice really hard…" I patted the large head of the pokemon and it grinned, turning over onto its back for me to rub its tummy and I suddenly saw its gender. "Whoa… now that's one way to tell that you're a girl…"_

_"Gra!" She laughed and lunched herself out of my arms and back onto the rocks where she sat before. "Gra?" _

_"I'm Jezebel; I ran away from my mother and came out here to find some fun." I grinned at her before pointing down at the sands below. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find some, would you?"_

_"Gra!" The pokemon quickly leapt off of the rocks and into the sands below, vanishing instantly on contact. She suddenly appeared again to show me where she was only a few feet away from where she landed. She dived under again and in the short period that she was gone, I watched something appear below another group of trapinch and all of them were sucked individually into holes. _

_I laughed as each one of them fell and I fell over onto my side. Apparently some of them must have heard me laughing, because, the next thing I knew, a horde of them were rushing at me. I screamed and ducked down under my arms just as their small bodies made contact with mine, sending bruises all over my legs and arms. I felt their teeth on some of my appendages and I kicked them away and tried to hit them away. _

_"Help!" I cried out with tears streaming down my face, knowing I was in the desert with no one there to hear my screams over the howling wind. "Please help me!" _

_"Gra!" The ground opened up beneath me, in the rock-like edge of the desert, only to fall to the sand below. I hit the sand and landed with a heavy thud, even in the soft sand. I cried out when I hit it and quickly looked to the area above where the trapinch had been. I saw them looking down at me, some of them quickly raced to jump down at me. I scurried to my feet and rushed off in the other direction toward the center of the desert. Multiple cries could be heard behind me and I glanced around just for a moment to see all the parties of trapinchs falling into the sand. I suddenly felt something beneath my foot and I screeched as I felt something under the sand carrying me while I balanced it with one foot a top of it. _

_I then felt my body fall off the moving thing below me and fell back onto the sand. I looked up only to see the playful trapinch that I'd befriended and had fun with only a few moments ago. _

_"Oh thank Latias it's you!" I quickly reached forward and grabbed the trapinch in my arms and hugged the living shit out of her. "You have no idea how happy I am that you helped me! It was you, wasn't it?"_

_"Gra!" She nodded to me and squirmed out of my arms. "Gra gra!" She held out her tiny foot and I bent down on my knees so I could shake it with my hand. _

_"As I said before, I'm Jezebel." I sighed before grinning at the pokemon. "You're a real ace at hitting everything on at the right spot, you know that? I thought you might have a name similar to that, like 'Acey'."_

_"Gra? Gra gra!"_

_"Well if you want it, it's all yours." I giggled. "Another friend to add to my list, to my little family." I couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Welcome to the family Acey."_

_"Jezebel!" I heard the shriek of my mother from the distance and instantly ducked my head and jumped to hide Acey. _

_"Hide, girl! She can't see you!" Acey gave me a sad look, upset that the fun was over, but quickly sank into the sand as I had commanded her. I quickly turned my head and saw my mother in the distance. She was fretting about as she looked around for me. I dived for the rock caves to the side and hid myself in the smallest wedge that I could find. Unlike the past few years where my mother had caught me and taken me away from my friends, I had learned that I was no longer going to wait for her to take me back, I was going to stay away from her as much as I could. _

_"Jezebel!" She called out again and I could see as she was getting closer. My eyes widened as I tried to move silently from the hole I was in so she couldn't find me. I suddenly felt the ground give out below me and I had to cover my mouth to prevent a scream from coming out from my shock. _

_I fell a good ten feet into a pile of sand that seemed to lead into an underground cave where I fell down a long trail of sand. I tumbled into the sand and suddenly felt the sand being thrown up into the air and my arms were thrown away from my mouth and I couldn't help but breathe some of the dry particles in. I suddenly landed with a thick thud that landed my head half under the sands. I coughed up all the sands that were in my throat and I tried as hard as I could to wet down my throat. _

_"Gra…?" I continued to cough, but I looked to my side and saw Acey there, nuzzling my side. Saliva was spilling out of my mouth that thickly coated with the sand that was partly down my throat and in my mouth. _

_"Th (cough) thanks Acey…" I looked up above from where I fell and noticed that my mother would never be able to find me again. I shook my head and looked over at Acey. "You think you can keep an eye on her and make sure she leaves the desert? I can't go up there until she leaves or else she'll take me back."_

_"Gra!" Acey was quick to give the first growl that I've ever heard from her and she dived into the sand pile behind me that I'd tumbled down and shot herself up to the rocky ground above where she latched onto a rock and suddenly started chewing and digging before making a hole in the rock and shoved herself through the sands above. _

_I can't remember how long it took before Acey came back down. For the longest time I saw and felt the cave moving from whatever action was taking place up there. I'd hoped and not hoped at the same time that Acey was attacking my mother, but not actually hurting her. I could only guess though as the sand filtered in this cave from above at small rates and the walls moved with every action that came from above. _

_Soon enough, Acey came back and landed down below with me. She cried out with glee and smiled. "Gra!"_

_"Hey, Acey, is my mother gone?" That brought a scowl back to her face. I sighed. "She's not giving up, is she?"_

_Acey could only shake her head. _

_"Well, I guess that means we have to play down here for the day, okay?"_

_Acey grinned at that and was quick to run down the hallway in the caves and turn back to look at me, calling me over. With a laugh, I hurried after the sand pit pokemon and played the long day away while my mother hunted above. _

**Present (Still Jezebel's Point of View):**

I didn't even realize that during the time that I'd remembered the first time I'd met Acey that we had already made it to the outside of the tower, right at its entrance. It seemed to be solidly made of sand and was lightly vanishing every other second. It seemed almost to be made out of bricks of sand that were disappearing by the wind's every move to take it down.

"If we want to explore this thing, we better make it fast before it falls down and takes us with it to the underground caves." I glanced up at its withering structure and cringed a bit. It looked to be getting even worse. My thoughts were proven correct when I saw a large patch of sand fall.

Mattie stiffed next to me and grabbed my arm. "A-and where d-do those c-caves lead t-to?"

I turned back to look at the boy with a worried look, one that I'm sure he didn't exactly like. "An endless tunnel that goes on for miles Mattie, you'll end up all the way in the northwest before you can find an exit." I felt the boy grasp my arm before I led us inside the tower. Acey was at the front, ready for anything that came at us.

Inside didn't look much different than the outside. The walls seemed to be caving in just as fast as they were fading in the air. Sand bricks were quick to fall onto the ground below and I grabbed Mattie's hand and led him toward the spiraling sand stairs.

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" The boy didn't argue, nor say a word as I dragged him away from the door and up the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me.

When making it to the second and only other floor, I was shocked to see that there were actually two fossils in the center of the room. I hurried up to them and brought Mattie up to look at them as well.

"I remember hearing that in Rustboro that Devon Corp. was reviving pokemon fossils." I turned to Mattie. "You should take these fossils back with you and revive them when you get a chance."

"A-are you s-sure?" He blinked at me in surprise. "Y-you don't w-want one?"

"Me? Naw!" I giggled and shook my head. "I have already so many friends around the region, not to mention the new ones I'm making. You take these guys Mattie, cuz I know they'll love you."

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought at the back of my mind that was telling me that I was having a casual conversation in a demolishing sand tower. I am so an idiot.

"So let's grab these things and go, Mattie!" He nodded and quickly leapt forward to grab the two fossils in his hands and hold them close to his chest before the sand suddenly started falling everywhere in large clumps and the pedestal that the two fossils were on collapsed into the floor.

"Acey! Make us a hole!" My trapinch nodded and suddenly threw her body out of the wall and I was quick to grab Mattie's arm and pull him toward the exit that my desert pokemon had made for us. Without another word, I yanked the boy and myself and threw us out of the hole that Acey had made in the wall with her large teeth and fast abilities. Mattie screamed out as we fell and I quickly took hold of the younger boy and forced his body to be curled into mine, his face in my neck and his fossils in my pelvis.

"This is gonna hurt a-BIT!" I screeched when we made contract with the ground and the boy's fossils crushed into my abdomen. Mattie jumped off me the first chance he had and placed his fossils to the side before checking on me.

"A-a-are you a-alright Jezebel?" The boy still seemed to be very shaken by the quick number of events that just took place. Having two fossils shoved into your lower body by another body about the same height and weight as yourself was not as fun as I'm sure some others would make it out to be. I felt some good bruises starting to form, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal or that I couldn't move on from.

"I'll be fine. Help me up." The boy nodded and quickly jumped up to his feet, but stumbled back down and fell once more on top of me as the tower collapsed behind us. I turned my head back to look at the amazing sight as it dispersed and disappeared. It crashed into the ground and I saw a flash of the underground caves that lay just below where we were and then the sight disappeared as well from my vision.

I shook my head and once the ground had calmed itself, I looked back to Mattie who was flushing intensely from where he had landed. His head had ended up on my chest, exactly where my still developing breasts were. He flew off of me and stuttered worse than when I first met him. A sudden wave of laughter came over me and I burst out laughing. The boy looked at me in surprise and Acey quickly came over to me and helped me up while laughing herself. Once I was in a sitting position, I was able to get a better look at the stuttering boy who was almost looking at me as if I'd fallen to insanity.

"Okay, let's try that again, if you don't mind, Mattie?" He shook his head and kept it ducked in fear of me seeing his ever growing red blush that had spread all the way down his neck now and was even starting to show on the edges of his hands. It was really hard to keep my laughter down then, but I tried my hardest for the boy who was practically red from head to toe in embarrassment.

"S-s-" he had a hard time getting out any words and I had to strain to hear him. "S-s-sorry…"

"Mattie, calm down. I'm not mad." The boy took my hand in his and yanked me to my feet, almost stumbling back onto the sandy ground himself if it wasn't for me as an anchor. "It was an accident; there's no need to freak out on me. You're turning redder then a tomato berry over this." He only seemed to get darker and I worried that he'd start to turn purple next. "Mattie, calm down, you're really starting to worry me here. Do we need to go rest?"

"I-I-I…" he stuttered once again. "I-I think I-I need t-to get ou-out of t-th-this desert…"

"Then let's get you out of here, then. There's no need to cook you like an entrée." I helped the boy grab his fossils and place them in his bag before I led him toward the northern exit of the desert. "Let's head up north to see if the passageway to Lavaridge is open, and if not, we'll take a rest over at Fallarbor Town."

Mattie nodded while still slightly hiding behind his green hair. "O-o-okay…"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

To my shock and my fury, the path was in fact closed to the town to the center of the western part of the island region we lived on. The mountain cable carts were down for the time being due to a recent Team Magma and Team Aqua showdown that took place on the mountain and people were just starting to get things back in order. So for the time being, we had to head north instead to the strip of land that was called the soot route.

Route one-twelve was the route that would lead to Lavaridge after we managed to get out of the desert at the northern part of route one-eleven, but since we were unable to continue up the mountain, we had to take a side road that runs through a small piece of the volcano called the "Fiery Path." Once we made it outside of the Fiery Path, we immediately landed on the eastern most edge of route one-thirteen, the "soot route." Since it is at the base of the volcano and in the direction where the wind blows after it passes over Mt. Chimney, the entire route is covered in ash. It is home to the largest glass producing factory in the entire world, Glass Co. They make trainer items out of glass, not to mention the most beautiful glass objects that this world has ever seen. It's probably slow in the season right now, only being early fall. It may be possible to get an order in and then grab it in the same day or so, depending on how large the item is and who makes it.

If I remember correctly, a close friend of my father's was the one who ran the company, his best friend who was also a trainer way back then. While he still battles trainers on occasion, he prefers to make his glass pieces and work with art. I couldn't exactly blame him there. They were beautiful pieces that I've seen him and his company put out yearly. He makes them mostly in honor of his wife, the woman that apparently brought him so far in his career and gave him all the support he needed.

All of our pokemon were out of their pokeballs right now and enjoying their time playing in the soot. Blaze especially found it comforting since it came from a volcano. All of them were ponytaing around and throwing soot at each other as if it was actually snow. It got really out of hand however when Spinner started to wet down the soot balls to make them compact and very messy. I didn't say anything though, they all looked like they could use some fun after the last stressful week we've had.

"H-how much l-longer is it Je-Jezebel?" I glanced over at Mattie who stood at my side. Soot was beginning to gather in heavy pieces in his hair. He noticed me looking at it and quickly shook it out. I couldn't stop the snort that escaped my mouth. "I-it's not fu-funny!"

"Relax, Mattie, I know." I shook my own head to get whatever ash was still in my hair out of it that probably just landed. "We should be almost there. Just past those other few trees ahead if I remember correctly."

"So y-you've been here too?"

"I've been almost everywhere in this region, Mattie."

"B-but then w-what makes it fun for you n-now? Especially s-since you've already been a-almost everywhere in t-the region?"

That made me stumble a bit in my step, but only for a moment. I couldn't help but smile at Mattie when he asked me that question. I was honestly shocked that no one had done that before, especially with Aria and Casey so worried about me. You'd think that they would.

"It makes it fun because I'm not running away anymore, Mattie. I'm with my family and friends now. I can enjoy the sights and smells that I had to carefully take in around me when I was running from my mother. I'm not alone." I kissed his cheek which brought that raging blush back that I found so cute on him. "I have a dream and a goal to bound forward to. I have those that I can rely on now that I didn't have before now. That's why it makes it fun, even if I have been _almost_ everywhere here in the region. But that's also just the thing. I haven't been _everywhere_." Mattie's blush faded for a moment so he could give me a quizzical look. "There are a few places that I've yet to journey to in this region, not to mention that there is an entire world out there for us to explore. There's so many endless opportunities for us… and I have my family with me now like I didn't before. How could I not be happy or have fun?"

"I-I guess y-you have a p-point." Mattie once again stuttered and glanced ahead of us for a moment before his eyes went wide. "I-I think we-were here!"

I turned to look toward where the boy was pointing and I saw that he was correct. The large building was set off behind a few trees, but the radiant color of glass that filtered through from lights and amazing art all over the place was unmistakable. We were in the correct place. The color of the factory itself was very hard to tell from all the glowing pieces of glass, but due to the fact that it was in the middle of a heavily wooded area, I believed it might have been a log cabin edging around it to give it a more natural look to go with the vibrant colors. A steaming chimney was toward the front of the factory, but I was more than willing to bet that there was more.

"Let's go, then, Mattie. This shouldn't take too long I think." I had our pokemon quickly follow after us to the small factory-like building, which, upon closer inspection, was actually smaller than I thought. There were many flying pokemon that seemed to be here, many of larger size like fearow, pidgeot, and swellow. I was also surprised to see some flying type pokemon that seemed to be moving some large packages around that included a dragonite, togekiss… a shiny charizard?

"Jezebel!" Mattie gasped as he saw what I saw. "I-is that…?"

"Well, hello, there." I turned my head to the side and quickly saw the Johto Champion standing next to us with a bag of soot in her hands. Compared to when I saw her last on the beach, Gwyn was dressed in a corset like dress that was neon red at the top that faded at the point of her waist and became a reddish-pink colored frilly skirt. I could barely see a set of shorts under her skirt, and on her hands were fingerless gloves of a vibrant red. White boots came up to her ankles on her feet and a jean jacket of the same color matched it over her shoulders. "I didn't quite expect the two of you to be here, but welcome to Glass Co. all the same. Are you two just passing through or are you here for some glass items?" She smiled at us with a grin. "The season is slow right now so the president is working on some projects himself for those that come in-"

"Toge!" the togekiss cried out and was quick to slam her body into the young trainer. Gwyn Jalen laughed out at this.

"Easy there, Ticky. We have guests and you need to act like a nice little lady and be good around them." The togekiss looked up from where she was on top of the girl to look over at us. She tilted her head to the side in question before she jumped back up into the air. I blinked at the pokemon and pulled out my pokedex to look her up.

_No data._

"No data? What?" I blinked and tapped the device, turning it off and then on again and pointed it back at the pokemon, only to come up with the same results. "What the hell?"

"Relax a bit there, Hon, Ticky is a species of pokemon that was discovered outside of this region. That's why you can't get any information on her." I froze at the voice of the Kanto Champion behind me. "Only those with a national pokedex that can look up any kind of pokemon from all over the world and can look up pokemon that are outside of their home region." I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Without one, you won't be able to look up her information. Here, you can look at mine and see what it says about her."

"Violet… I…" I stopped there when I realized that it'd been quite a few days since I'd even talked to the Kanto Champion: Violet Vilmos. The last I'd seen of her, I was pissed off my rocker and yelled at her for acting as if she was my mother. I never should have done that to the woman, but I was just so _mad_ at the time…

"It's all right, Jezebel; you don't have to say it." The woman gently pulled just enough so that I could take a quick look at her grin on her face. "All is forgiven; besides, we can both be hotheads, can't we?"

"Yeah…" I showed her a smile, one that I was glad to give her. "And call me Jez."

"All right then, Jez." She pulled her hand away and gestured toward the building. "Shall we go in?"

"Yeah…" I turned back to look at Mattie who was talking with Gwyn. "Let's go, Mattie! Let's go get in some orders! I got a lot of cash and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"C-coming, Jezebel!" The boy rushed after me with all of our pokemon before Violet led us inside the building with Gwyn bringing up the rear. Upon entering, I was amazed to see that it was only a few machines that were lined up on the base level and many glass projects seemed to be already made and were being packed by a set of people that all resembled each other. It was quite warm in the room from all the fire and the machines that were being used. From what I had read about these machines in the past, they got up to almost one-thousand degrees to keep the glass at an almost molten point to easily shape it without having to worry about it breaking. There was also a break area off to the side along with large glass containers of different sizes that had colored lines on them to certain heights. Small ones that were no bigger than crock pots were there, five of them, and then other containers that were almost a few feet over my head and as wide as their height.

There were five people here in the room already. I saw an older couple along with three younger kids around my age or maybe a bit older. All of them seemed to have traits of pale white skin and silky brown hair, other than the older woman and the younger male that had a lighter sandy blonde hair. Another similar trait among them seemed to be hazel eyes. They were all working on packing certain boxes together with glass objects, and there seemed to be hardly any left.

The elder pair of the few, the man and woman that seemed to be about my dad's age, their mid-thirties, turned back to look at us when they heard us come through the door. Their eyes lingered on us for a moment before they looked over at Violet and Gwyn.

"I assume that everything seems to be fine and all larger objects are just about ready for transport. Right Champion Vilmos, Champion Jalen?"

"Yes, Mr. Frit, everything is loaded up on your pokemon and they're just about ready to set out, sir, they're just waiting on your order and who is to go with them." Violet glanced over at her other partner. "Gwyn will be safeguarding the load that's going to Lilycove while I leave half of my team here to watch the factory, and I myself will accompany those that are traveling to Rustboro and Slateport."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. My daughters will be taking the trip to Lilycove, so Champion Jalen, if you would please look after my girls and their work, I would highly appreciate that."

Gwyn nodded to the man. "It's what you hired us for, sir, nothing will happen to them or the work. Everything will go smoothly. No one will be stealing anything on my watch."

The older man sighed. "And it feels good to know that my work and family is in good hands." He turned to Violet. "Champion Vilmos, you will be with my son for the deliveries heading to the south. I believe the rest of us should be fine here. All orders have been filled out and completed again. I think I may take the rest of the day off after I talk to the two you brought in with you." I blinked at the man who smiled at the two of us. "You may have changed your hair and clothing style, but I know that face of yours anywhere, Jezebel."

"You… remember me?" Mattie I could see was gaping at me from the side of my vision. I, regretfully, didn't tell him that this man was an old friend of my father's, and when I was little, I used to play with his children who were a few years older than me while he and my dad would catch up on 'the good old days'.

"Of course, with all the pictures your father sent of you, your face is a hard one to miss. Then again, I have a knack for noticing detail, so it could just be me." He scratched the back of his head before he turned to his kids. "All right you three, I want you to behave and be careful. Alice, Crystal, I want you two to look after each other and listen to Champion Jalen's every word and every order she gives. She's looking after you and our work. We don't want to lose any of it."

"We've got it, Dad. Nothing will happen with a champion on our side," the older of the two said with a grin.

"Yeah!" the younger one cheered. "They're too afraid!"

"Let's hope so." The woman then stepped in, saying her own two cents before she walked over to her son. "Now, Jasper, be good for Champion Vilmos and make sure all the glass gets passed out. We need to make all the money we can in this off season."

"Don't worry, Mom, I won't let anything happen to the glass, and I'll be good." The boy rolled his eyes at his mother. "Stop fretting. With the champions helping us out, we have nothing to worry about." He clenched his fist so hard, I saw it visibly shake. "No petty stealing from the bastards anymore…"

"Jasper Frit!" the mother screeched out. "We don't use those words!"

"Honey, let him have his moment. He's growing up, and those thieves deserve all that gets thrown at them." Mr. Frit shook his head. "Now go. I want you all to try and make it back before nightfall."

"Got it, Dad." The girls both kissed the older man's cheek before hurrying out the door. "Bye!"

"We'll see you later." The younger man gave his father a hug before heading outside the door past us with his sisters. Violet sighed at the tension and looked over at Gwyn.

"I'll handle mine. You take care of yours. I'll meet you back here no later than midnight; if something comes up, call."

"No problem, Vi; I'm heading out." Gwyn nodded to her fellow champion before rushing out the door and Violet groaned.

"Now I got a fucking headache… oh, sorry about the slip of the tongue ma'am." Violet quickly fixed her mistake before the woman could snap at her like she did her son. "I'm heading out. And Jez?" I looked at the champion right as she reached the door. "If I don't meet up with you later tonight, just give me a call and let me know how you're doing, okay? You had me and a few others worried after last time."

"I got it." She looked at me hard, even with the distance between us I felt as if her eyes were looking and starting directly into mine as if she was right in front of me. She then nodded and rubbed her forehead to milk away the pain in her skull before she vanished from sight.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again, Jezebel!" Mrs. Frit was quick to jump toward me and bind me in her arms in a tight hug. "Oh, it's been so long since we've seen you! How have you been?"

"All right, I guess. I finally left for a pokemon journey, which I _really_ wanted to do…" I muttered the last part under my breath, but it seemed that the older woman caught onto it.

"I know all about your bitchy mother and her horribly sequestering ways!" The woman huffed in anger; I could practically see the fire from the rage that I saw burning in her eyes. "Excuse my horribly harsh words, Jezebel; there are many things I could call your mother right now, but I will refrain from doing so since I've already soiled the air with those _horrible_ words."

"Eh… don't worry about it." I shrugged. "But it's good to see you have so much energy."

"Oh, yes, I have too much on the off season when not enough people are ordering items. You'd think they would, since it's only a few months before Christmas!"

"One would think…" I shrugged. "I hate to cut this short, but I actually wanted to place an order in for some stuff."

"Oh, by all means! Oh, goodie, I get to work with the fire again!" The woman bounced in place and her husband was quick to act and place his hands on her shoulders.

"Easy there, my dear, we have to get the order first." Her husband shook his head and stepped before us. "Is there anything you had specifically in mind that you wanted, Jezebel? Or your friend here? A few glass flutes to help out in the pokemon world? Maybe a glass table and some chairs for a secret base?"

"Secret base?" I stopped the man before he could go on. "I remember hearing that term before; can you remind me what exactly it is?"

The man chuckled. "Of course. A secret base is like a home away from home that trainers tend to decorate with many items that they get along the way of their pokemon journey and build here in this region. You basically find an area of your liking and add things to it, almost like a… fancy camp, I guess is the best way to describe it. If an area isn't already made, have your pokemon help you dig out an area, because you want to make sure that no water or other bad materials can get into it. Or people. A good location would be just to the west of here, past Fallarbor Town. Some greens are at the base of the mountains on that side of the town and it doesn't get a lot of rainfall, and with us being in such a warm area and close to the volcano, we never get snow."

"I'll have to look into that, but it sounds cool. I'll have to think about that." I looked around for any flutes, but I couldn't see any. "What are you doing for flutes right now?"

"I make all five all year round, Jezebel." He walked over to a file cabinet that was next to the glass containers I saw that had the lines on them and he pulled out a sheet that showed me the five of them. "I can make them right now if you want, though I'm afraid I'll still have to ask full price… unless…"

I blinked at him. "Unless?"

"Well… you see, Jezebel, we have plenty of ashes in stock to melt down and give you your order, but… if you wanted to give it a different look, and cut down on the cost... sometimes if you find certain things out in the forest to melt with the ashes, it can create creative designs in the glass naturally, though I ask that you please don't do large rocks, those never come out good and I have to redo the order… but it will cut the cost in half since you're gathering most of the materials and I'm just adding color and creating it."

"No problem there, but that actually sounds fun." I turned to the boy I brought with me. "What do you think, Mattie?"

"I-I… I-I don't know… c-can I d-do it? I-it sounds l-l-like fun…" The boy stuttered from the heat in here and his own embarrassment.

"Great, then. Let's do that." I turned back to Mr. Frit and he smiled before he walked between the glass containers and pulled out a couple of soot bags from behind the counter.

"How many do you think you two will need?"

"I-I…. I don't t-think I'll n-need more t-t-than one…" Mattie stumbled over his words and the older man chuckled before tossing him a sack lightly over the glass table. Mattie stumbled to catch it and somehow managed to land on the ground from it. I held back a snort and helped the boy up.

"And you, Jezebel?" Mrs. Frit questioned me.

"Hm… I don't want to have to make too many trips… do you guys have any sacks that are larger?"

"Like this?" Mr. Frit pulled out a bag large enough to fit all of my friends and my pokemon in it; he had to drag it out of the cabinet because it was so large.

"Perfect. I'll take six."

"Six? So many?" Mr. Frit raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"So I don't have to come back so many times, and I'll use Blade's psychic powers to carry those sacks. It'll strengthen his abilities." Blade nodded at this and used his powers to bring the first bag over to me and set it by my feet. The single empty bag seemed not to be a problem.

"I guess I'll get another five then." He sighed and opened up another cabinet and pulled out some more sacks, which Blade then brought over to me. "Now I'll be waiting here for your first order. I may take a break for lunch while I wait."

"No problem." I gave a grin to Mattie and yanked him along. "Let's get going!"

**HalloweenWitchHallowennWitch**

"This looks like a decent tree to grab some ash." I grinned at my team. "Maybe we'll get some of the pine needles too!"

We'd been looking around the forest for a little while now- maybe a good half hour. I wanted to be sure that when I found some ash, it would be plenty of it to put into the bags and maybe find something that would mix in with it so I'd have a cool design like Mr. Frit had said. I was now looking at a good patch of pine trees that stood well over our heads and seemed to be holding a massive amount of ashes in their branches, while only small bits of it fell to the ground below. They seemed to be almost a hundred and fifty feet tall. Their trunks were larger than my arm span and from under the dust, I could vaguely see the green needles that were so heavily covered.

"All right, you guys. Let's get some ashes." I looked to my team who all looked to be ready. I had Spinner in my arms, for he was not to participate. "All right, Acey, knock the ash out of that tree! And make sure to hit her hard enough for plenty of needles too!"

"Gra!" Acey leapt forward and slammed her massive head into the tree's body. I could feel the entire thing moving in the ground, and I heard the groaning of the tree trunk. The branches began to move, and as a slight wind passed overhead, all the soot began to fall from the leaves, revealing a bright green color.

"All right, Blade, stop that soot in its tracks!"

"Kirl!" Blade was quick to act and his eyes glowed a bright purple color before his powers grabbed the soot in the air and kept it in place around the tree.

"Now Silky! Blaze! Take the bags and gather up the soot!"

"Beau!"

"Combusk!"

Both of them leapt up into the air with a soot bag in their hands. Silky flew up to the higher batches and held open the sack and began to fly around and gather it. Blade would then release that batch from his power once it was safely in the bag so it wouldn't pull Silky back. Blaze did the same thing by jumping up on the sides of trees. He was quick to jump from multiple trees.

When any of their sacks were full, they came down to the ground and grabbed another set. Two bags were filled and while they were filling another set, I looked back at the other two sacks and peeked inside. It was packed full of soot and I was shocked to see that no pines had fallen. I huffed and placed my hand inside to shift the soot. I hissed when I felt something poke my hand.

_Wait, something poked me?_

I gently shifted around the soot in the bag, and to my pleasure, I was able to find many needles inside the sack. I did the same procedure with the other bag and was pleased to find that there were many in that one, too. Hopefully these needles created some amazing designs in the glass artwork, because owning a piece like that would be incredible.

I loved fine art; it was amazing to look at. I loved it even more when my mother had us move to either Fallarbor Town to look at the glass museum or Lilycove City to see the art museums. It sucked, however, when my mother got in the way and would always drag me home. She said if I wanted to see some art, I had to make some. Of course I never listened, nor participated in anything she had me do because I sucked at it. While I loved art, I also loved music. It was most of my main reason behind getting these flutes, besides the fact that they'd be pretty, because they'd be playing some music notes.

If I remembered correctly, these flutes all held their own octave and pitch. Black was the lowest pitch, which was to draw pokemon to you with the low sounds and soothing appeal. Red was the second lowest with it being a flute to lull pokemon out of an attracted state. If, say, attract was used on them and forced a pokemon to fall in love with the enemy, it would break the spell. Blue was the flute that held the most natural and mid-tone; it was designed to help pokemon awaken peacefully from naps and keep them from falling asleep. Yellow was the second highest in pitch, it was to be used to startle a pokemon out of confusion if an attack such as confusion or confuse ray was used on one of a trainer's pokemon. White was the last of the flutes, it was the highest pitch because its purpose was to send pokemon away, to repel them by the high pitched squeals of the white flute.

I always did have a bit of a musical ear; since I was little, besides wanting to be a pokemon trainer, I always loved music. It was so soothing to listen to and hear. I loved it. My mother got me into learning a few instruments. I actually didn't mind that she did force me to do something for once, because music was something I enjoyed and I could tune her out so easily once I was caught in a song or a melody. I remembered learning recorders and flutes long ago, and recorders have a similar fingering to the glass flutes, so it wouldn't be hard to relate those teachings to my battling, and maybe just for some fun. I was also taught how to play the guitar, which I thoroughly loved, but I also dipped my hands into a few other instruments, most which were fun, but that I didn't have a burning passion for, like the recorder, flute and guitar.

Once I shook myself from my memories of music, I looked just in time as my team finished gathering all the soot we could from that first tree. Without a command, Acey struck another tree. Blade was quick to gather the soot for Silky and Blaze. Within record time, the four of them quickly had all six sacks filled to the brim and sealed off. I nodded to the others.

"Nice job, you guys. Now let's take this stuff back and fill up all the containers we can." The others nodded, and Silky was quick to land on my head, and we watched and waited for Blade to lift the six sacks with his powers. I saw for the first time in my entire time of being a trainer that Blade actually _flinched_ at the amount of weight he had to take on. He got four into the air before he just couldn't take on the other two.

"All right, you guys! Let's help him out!" My pokemon all took off in different places. Silky quickly raced over to Acey's side and the sand pit pokemon dug under the heavy bag and lifted it on top of her large head with Silky helping keep the bag balanced in place. Blaze and I took the other bag, which we shared, and man, was it _heavy_! I couldn't understand how so much ash could really do all that, but I couldn't really argue with it since I was really feeling it there. I groaned under the weight and I felt Blaze trying to take more on himself in that moment, but I snorted and yanked back, stopping him. I couldn't see his face, but I bet it was a shocked one.

"Don't do that, Blaze. I can help. Don't put this all on yourself. We are a team after all."

"Combusken busk," he quickly said. "Busken combusk combusken busk."

"I'm glad you guys are here for me too. I need you in times like these, especially with my uncle being the head of a criminal organization." I grunted under the weight. "Trust me; I want my close friends, who actually care about me, around. This is some emotional shit we're being forced to go through, and I'm sorry I keep subjecting you guys to it."

"Busken busk." I could practically imagine him waving it off. "Busk?"

"I'm getting used to the idea now; it just worries me how I have to break this news to my father, aunt and cousins. They'll be so destroyed…"

"Sur!" Spinner called out over our voices and grunts of pain as we came up on the factory. Once we got to the door, I walked inside and had Blade bring over a bag. All containers were open, but one seemed to be a bit more dirty than normal. Mattie was standing off to the side, taking a break, I assumed, and walked over to us when he saw me. His pokemon trailed after him toward us and started to help us with unloading our bags.

"W-w-wow!" Mattie gasped at the amount that we had. "T-that's a lot o-of soot!"

"I know, right? Let's see how many will fill up these containers and see if I need to gather some more." With the help of Blade and Guardian, we lifted one of the sacks over to the jars and started to fill the jars up to the line placed on them. I added in a bit extra to them so in case a little more was needed, it was there, not to mention that the pine needles have to add up to something.

Once the five containers were filled, I then brought my sacks over to the larger containers and started to fill them up. One container had just one line, while the other had ten on it. Out of assumption, I guessed that the one with many lines was for the chairs, so you could choose how many you wanted. I started dumping my ashes into it, making as many chairs as I could. My family was large. Four cousins, six parents and myself- that was eleven. I'd have to have an extra chair made for all of us, but I think a glass table to go back home at my dad's home would be nice. It would be his early Christmas present. I filled the container over the ten lines to what I assumed was twelve so that I could have them made. That was already four bags I had gone through, just for those chairs. I put the last two into the desk one and just as I was finishing up, and it came out a couple feet below the line, Mr. Frit came out of his workshop with a small instrument case.

"And here you go, Mattie; your yellow flute is complete. I do hope you love the coloring and it is to your desired results." Mattie took the case from him and nodded his thanks while he peeked inside to look at it. Once I glanced inside, I saw the most beautiful flute I'd seen in a long time. It was a bright yellow flute, one that reminded me of the shape of the pokeflute that I'd seen Violet carry on a chain on her waist. It held a long slender body with a ball like chamber near the end before another small sliver of thin tubing came out of the end of the ball to allow an exit for the sound. It was a basic color scheme, but there was a pattern in the glass, which was most likely on the inside, though how he did it, I have no idea. It looked like wavy indents that were all over the glass in a pattern that gave it thicker and darker shades of yellow through shadows produced by the light.

I was flabbergasted.

"I-It's perfect…" Mattie breathed out shock at the sheer beauty of it. "How m-much do I-I still o-owe you…?"

"Only five hundred, Mattie. Does that sound reasonable?" Mattie nodded and quickly pulled out the money and handed it over to the man. The older man chuckled. "I better hand this over to my wife; she takes all the money and deals with it." He pocketed it quickly before he then looked over at me. "Well, it looks like you've been busy, Jezebel. What's the order going to be? It looks like you want all flutes, a few more than ten chairs and the desk."

"That's basically about it." I shrugged as I set down the bags. I'd pick them up when I'd head back out. "I'm planning on giving my dad the table and chairs for his house so we have somewhere formal to eat our food. Not to mention the table he has right now is only big enough for the parents, not the five of us kids. This way we could all eat together at meals. Especially with Christmas coming up soon. It's actually only a couple months away."

"Very true. I'll have that done in a few days along with your chairs. How many of them were you planning on and how long of a table? I'm assuming twelve?"

"Perfect." I reached down and grabbed a couple of the sacks. "How many more of these do you think I need?"

"I would think only two, enough to get to the line on the desk and give a bit more. Most desks I make are about enough to fit eight people, six on the sides and two on the ends. You'll need to fill this container to the brim to have enough for twelve."

"I'll go do that, then. I know the perfect spot a short ways from here that put some awesome pine needles in the ash to give it an awesome design."

"Pine needles?" he questioned before grinning. "Then I have to do something special for this set. Take all the time you need Jezebel, and I should have all five flutes done by the time you get back and fill this last container for the table."

"Got it!" I gave him a thumb up and I dragged the two sacks behind me. "Let's go, you guys! We're not done yet!"

"W-w-wait for m-me Jezebel!" Mattie was hot on our heels and I laughed as he followed after us.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"S-so this is where you f-found the t-tress with a-all the soot?" Mattie questioned me as we _finally_ arrived at the location where I'd seen the trees before I'd brought back my first batch of soot. A surprisingly large batch of trainers came through the route and wanted to battle while we were on our way there and kept us a really long time, almost two hours. Some of the battles I have to admit were pretty fun though, and Mattie showed me a lot of his own moves with his pokemon too that actually surprised me a lot. One move that one of his pokemon, Guardian, had learned was called 'dazzling gleam', and to my shock was of a type I'd never heard of: fairy.

Apparently fairy was one of the newest types of pokemon that had been discovered in another region far away, and many of the normal types we thought today were normal types, were actually fairies, which would explain why they had an easier time dealing with dragons on rare occasions. To my shock, Blade and Guardian were both fairy types along with their psychic typing. Blade could learn the move that Guardian knew, but he was too stubborn and had no interest; it was 'too girly' for his tastes and he was, and I quote, 'already girly looking enough.'

Many pokemon that we already knew of were actually fairy types, and it really shocked me: clefairy, jigglypuff, togepi, marill, snubbull, mawile… and all their families too, pre-evolutions and evolutions. I'd have to look it up when I got the chance. I didn't want this new type to affect me or to be unknowledgeable about it, especially since this type apparently has the advantage over dragons…

"Yeah, this is the place." My pokemon were already at work with filling up the last two sacks we needed before we would head back to the factory. Mattie's pokemon were even helping out, which made my pokemon's job a whole lot easier. "Great for a buildup of soot since they're so far up in the air, not to mention you get the pine needles for cool effects. I can't wait to see my five flutes!"

"N-neither can I!" Mattie smiled and pulled out his own flute to try and play it. He blew lightly into it and a screech came out. He flinched at it and would have almost dropped it if I didn't dive, knowing exactly what would happen. His personality and this instrument would take some time to connect.

"Easy there, Mattie. There's no need to drop your flute. You just had it made, remember?" I pulled it up and used the end of my shirt to wipe off its end. "You mind if I try?"

Mattie didn't respond. He was too hung up in his own embarrassment to look at me. I sighed and stepped before the boy and lifted his chin, forcing him to look at me. I released his chin and placed both of my hands over the ten holes that were on the glass flute. Being careful to hit the lower notes so it would sound a bit more soothing, I had my fingers on all of the holes before I began to let some air through and play. I let my fingers on the lower half of the flute dance from hole to hole as the melody came out. Even with playing the lower notes, the flute had a higher pitch to it, like it was supposed to. It was more pleasing to the ears, though. Mattie seemed to be over his little moment and was looking right at me while I played, amazed.

"Wow…"

I pulled the flute from my lips and wiped off the mouth piece before handing it back to him. "I'll teach you how to play."

"R-really?"

"Sure, it's no problem. I had been playing instruments for years before I began my journey." I shrugged and noticed that the others were done in gathering the soot, a job which was much faster than I thought it would be. "All right then, you guys, let's head back and finish up so we can get something to eat. I'm starved!"

I heard many cries from the others who agreed. We quickly hurried back along the soot covered paths back to the factory and through the giant groups of trainers we battled earlier. None of them seemed too keen on battling Mattie and I again since we were too strong. I think we might have bruised their pride.

A short while later, we arrived back at the factory. The two sacks that we filled with soot I had Blade and Guardian fill up the last container with and I was happy to see that all of the smaller containers for the five glass flutes were empty. I was even happier when I saw Mr. and Mrs. Frit walking around with the two of them holding onto a large musical instrument case in their hands that was just about as long as half my body.

"Ah, just in time, Jezebel. I just finished up the flutes and was coming over to present them when you got back here." The two of them set down the case on a glass desk they had out in the waiting room section and had me sit down. All of my pokemon crawled into my lap or looked over my shoulders to see what exactly I was going to get.

Mr. Frit clicked open the three latches on the case and opened the black case wide. My eyes widened when I looked at the flutes inside, all hand crafted just as I would have wished them to be, and Mr. Frit did it without even asking me. The lowest of the five flutes, the black flute, had faded grayish white lines the circled around the small ball chamber like a planet on its axis. Above the lower section of holes, there were another set of lines, in a similar pattern and over the same color. The same process was repeated for just before the mouth piece and above the higher set of holes. This same process was repeated for all the flutes with amazing colors. For the yellow flute, there were grass green colors. For the blue flute, there were vibrant orange. For the red flute, there were maroon colors. Lastly, for the white, there were faded grayish black colors.

I couldn't believe the pieces before my eyes, and then I noticed exactly what he had been talking about the last time I'd talked to him. He said that the pine needles would give off a very interesting look, and they did. Multiple bubbles appeared in the glass and almost seemed to be swimming in the glass itself when you turned it in your hands. I gently picked up the black one of the five and brought it to my lips and as soon as the first note of the melodic lowest flute hit my ears, I was off and playing a soft melody. I could hear my pokemon behind me cooing at the music. It was all worth our hard efforts in the end.

"Your s-so a-amazing at p-playing those f-flutes Jezebel…" Mattie stuttered out his compliment and ended on a soft note before I placed it back in its case and turned to look at him.

"Thanks, Mattie. It's all due to the one thing for which I actually don't hate my mother. She signed me up for lessons a long time ago and I was so thrilled to be able to play music like this." I turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Frit to see them closing and latching the case back up. "Thank you both. These are amazing. I can't wait to use them for battle _and_ for fun."

"It was no trouble at all. The total that you owe me, due to what I got to hack off because you went out and found your material, is about ten-thousand five-hundred." I quickly pulled out my wallet and handed over the money to the man which he in turn gave to his wife. "And we will finish up that order of yours as soon as possible and send it to your father. Shall I attach a note to it when we deliver?"

"Yeah," I stood up and grabbed my new case of flutes in hand. It was light and easy to carry, but with all the foam inside, I doubt my flutes would be harmed if I had to throw this at someone. "Write: How about a new table and chairs for the holidays? Merry Christmas, Dad."

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright! I finally got through this one! Man, college really gets in the way! I didn't think it would slow down my writing this much! (Not that any of you would know since I pre-write my chapters.) But anyway, we now have a new teammate and some new items for Jezebel! And just in the nick of time too! We're about to get into some heated stuff in the next chapter! A full on battle between Team Magma and Team Aqua! And we finally get to see some really dramatic shit unfold when we see who the leader of Team Magma is! I wonder if you all have guessed the connection yet?**

**Anyway, I leave you on that note and see you all next time! Have a great week everyone and please remember to Review and send in Questions! **

**Love you all!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	13. Trouble with Team Aqua & Magma

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 13: Trouble with Team Aqua &amp; Magma_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

We ended up spending the night over at Glass Co. before taking off early the next morning. I wanted to get a good start over to the mountain to find Mattie that pokemon he was looking for. I was intrigued by it myself. I'd asked Mattie a few questions about the pokemon, but other than what I already knew, he kept his stuttering lips sealed about it. I supposed he wanted to surprise me or impress me. Either way, I had to admit… it was kinda cute to see him all determined and what not.

Anyway, we arrived at Fallarbor Town a couple hours shy of noon. It was a barren looking town with nothing much more than rocks and flying dust particles for miles. It was one of the driest parts of the region, minus the desert. Not a speck of green was to be seen and it was almost sickening to see the dead state of the area. Hadn't the town heard of irrigation?

Mattie and I quickly grabbed a thing for lunch for our pokemon before we set out further to the west. It was beautiful to see some water and soon enough some plant life once we got far enough away from the town. It was there when we got to the base of the mountain that we found the pokemon that Mattie had been looking for, and it was just as cute as I thought it would be. It was called a swablu, a small flying type pokemon that had a blue body with beady black eyes and thick, fluffy white wings that looked like nothing more than thick cotton balls. I pulled out my pokedex and looked up the information on this pokemon.

_Swablu, the cotton bird pokemon. A pokemon that has wings like cottony clouds. It constantly grooms its cotton-like wings. It takes a shower to clean itself if it becomes dirty. After enduring winter, in which little food is available, swablu flocks move closer to towns in the spring. Swablu nests are only common in this region on routes one-fourteen and one-fifteen. _

"I-I'm going t-to catch it Jezebel!" Mattie called out as we were looking through the route for one. We'd seen a few of them, but none of them had come out and battled us, nor stuck around long for us to try and get one for Mattie.

"I know you will, Mattie. I have faith in you." I smiled at the boy who was rushing to check all bushes and trees for the pokemon who were either running away or not there.

It took the boy quite a while, almost an hour in fact, before a swablu finally appeared before a small pond of water. It seemed to be cleaning itself excessively, even more than the other ones that seemed to take off as soon as they catch a glimpse of us. The fact that this one wasn't was actually a real shocker. It saw Mattie and me, and saw most of the pokemon that we had with us that were out of their pokeballs, but it ignored us all. Mattie seemed really interested in it and quickly pulled out a couple extra pokeballs.

"Here I go!" he cried out. "Let's go Luna! Help me out with double slap!"

"Nya!" the feline like pokemon bound forward with her battle ready figure that had once again turned from the adorable Luna into the blood thirsty battler. She leapt into the air and landed a solid hit with her tail multiple times on the pokemon before throwing it back into the water. The flying pokemon sunk below the water for a moment before with heard bubbles coming up from out of the water. The flying pokemon jumped out of the water and screeched at Luna, it had the same look in its eyes like she did. When Luna wasn't battling, she was the sweetest pokemon you'd ever come across that loved to play with you and her own tail. When it came to battling, however, she was a pain in the ass to beat, and the last time I faced her in battle, Blade lost to her- he's still a bit sour over that fact- but the strangeness in the fact that this swablu was almost identical in personality to the way that Luna acted was almost uncanny. When not battling, it seemed sweet and didn't seemed to bothered by us, which most likely meant it was one of the more powerful swablu in the area to not be afraid like all the others, and then when it came to battling, its mind was like a steel trap that would just fight on forever.

"Oh boy…" I lightly hissed under my breath. It'd be great for Mattie to get another pokemon, but if he gets another one like Luna, oh hell I'd be so screwed…

"Oh wow!" Mattie was out of his stuttering phase now that he was battling. I heard no hesitation in his voice like I normally did. It was kind of a pleasant surprise to hear, regardless of how much harder it was going to be to defeat him now if he gets that pokemon. "Now Luna, use blizzard!"

"Nya~!" Luna cried out and suddenly a blast of ice and snow came from her mouth that hurled itself over at the flying type pokemon. It cried out as its wings became encased in ice and its body began to freeze.

"Watch it so you don't freeze it over, Mattie!" I reminded the boy and he was startled out of his concentration.

"R-right!" He pulled out one of his pokeballs and threw it over at the pokemon. "Go pokeball!"

The red and white device tapped on the top of the pokemon's head. It instantly turned red and was pulled inside before tipping from side to side and beeping every so often. Mattie waited on the tops of his toes for the pokeball to settle, and when it did, he cheered and Luna turned back to her playful mood. She leapt up into the air before she landed and saw a glimpse of her tail. With one look of the tail that resembled a fluffy large toy, Luna took off after it and ended up racing herself around in circles.

"I got the swablu!" Mattie turned back to me excitedly. "I'll call her Kaida, Jezebel!"

"Well that was fast." I giggled at him. "I guess you had time to think this over?"

"I've been thinking about this for days!" The boy grinned before I saw something flash in his mind, like he remembered something, and his nervous features came back to him. "I-I've been thinking t-this over for a w-while…"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Mattie; I don't care what you name her. She's your pokemon after all." I smiled at the boy before a flash of red caught my eye from the edge of the mountains. My eyes widened as I saw part of a red hood.

_Team Magma?_ I glanced over at Blade, who used his powers to look to the area over there. He nodded to me, all without Mattie or his team noticing, all other than Guardian, who gave him a strange look, but said nothing at the moment.

"Hey, Mattie? Why don't you go and take Kaida back to the pokemon center and get her healed up so you can talk and get to know her a bit better." The boy looked over at me with a quizzed look.

"B-but what about y-you?"

"There's something I want to check out in that mountain real quick. Besides, we need to double back down to Mt. Chimney to get to Lavaridge Town anyway to get our next gym badge." Without the boy knowing, I glared at the mountain before I turned back and gave him a smile. "I'll pick you up on the way back, okay?"

"O-okay…" the boy looked truly sad by what I said, and I had to admit, I was just trying to send him back so he wouldn't get in the middle of this. Team Magma and Team Aqua both don't know what I look like, it's not fair for Mattie to take and involve him where his family could be looked up, hunted and hurt.

"Don't worry; I'll only be a few minutes." He nodded and slowly began to walk off with his team. Guardian looked back at Blade a couple more times before she grudgingly gave up and followed her trainer and good friend out of the small green area we were in before heading back to the dried out area that led to Fallarbor Town. When Mattie and his team were far enough away, I bolted toward the mountain with my team fast on my trail.

The mountainous trail was extremely easy to run up with the rock paths carved out. It took me little time to actually get to where I saw the entrance to a cave. I vaguely could hear some voices inside and hurried over to the entrance and rushed inside to hide behind a large boulder before peeking around it. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting before I saw a group of Team Magma grunts that were harassing a scientist, easily noticeable by the neon white coat he wore over himself. A stone that seemed to be worn down, almost looking like a meteorite, was in his arms, which he seemed to be shielding away from the Team Magma grunts that descended on him.

"No, you can't have my meteorite!" the man cried out at the evil gang. "I need it for my research; you hoodlums can't have it!"

"Sorry professor, but whether you say we can or not doesn't matter." I watched as one of the closest grunts reached for the desired item and the scientist was shaking in fear. He had no pokemon, no one to protect him. I needed to get their attention off of him to give him time to run.

"Blade, get me that stone." My psychic pokemon nodded and his eyes quickly glowed their bright purple color and the stone vanished from the scientist's hands. The stone appeared right before me and I took it into my arms before I stepped out and around the boulder.

"Looking for this, Team Magma?" Their entire group whipped their heads around to see the stone in my hands and many of them growled while a few backed up.

"It's that girl that messed with the last operation in Verdanturf!" I heard one of them cry out. "She's got the meteorite!"

"You're going to have to get through me and my team if you want to have it." I pulled back the stone towards my body and Spinner sat on my shoulder, I could feet him shaking, but he seemed a bit more at ease than normal due to my entire battling team that was out before us, protecting us.

"Fine by us!" The Magma grunts quickly unleashed their pokemon from their pokeballs, many of them being a few numels and poochyenas. Nothing that we couldn't handle.

"Get them!" another grunt shouted and the wave of pokemon attacks that came at us was huge. Fire came at us in a blaze at first, a huge wave of it, from a group of Numel, as compared to just one. Blaze conjured up his own fire in his mouth and then used his fire attack to counter theirs. I could hear the shocked gasps escape their lips when they saw that their attack didn't do anything at all to us. I shook my head and Blaze looked back to me and I nodded to him.

"Have at it." My fire type suddenly leapt into the air and threw his feet around to gain speed as he crashed and both of his thick legs hit two of the numels on their sides. They crashed into the ground and from the impact were thrown back while Blaze jumped back and landed before the rest of the group of pokemon.

"Silky, silver wind!" My beautifly jumped off my head and while in midair, she flapped her wings once to give her enough force to stay up there before she threw a mad dusting of the glittering attack at the enemy, it landed all over the pokemon and their trainers. "Now set it afire Blaze!" My fire type clicked his teeth and a single flare left the inside of his mouth that landed on the ground, just on the edge of the powdery attack before it suddenly took aflame in an instant. All of them could be heard crying out on the other side of the flames, but unlike last time, I wasn't about to give them a chance to escape.

"Tackle the Pokemon, Acey; I know the fire won't affect you. Blade, you use teleport and then hit the grunts and knock them back!" My last two pokemon did just that and threw themselves into the fire. They both vanished from my sight, but I saw the fire begin to die down and it was pushed back when those that were on fire were thrown back too.

All of them were washed out and taken out, just like the trash should be.

I huffed and looked down to the man that was on the lower level. "Hey, you all right down there?"

"Well it seems that someone else beat us to the punch with Team Magma." The scientist never had a chance to speak to me before I saw a large flash of blue enter the room. Archie was in the front as he led a group of Team Aqua grunts to the center of the cave where we were, but on the lower level with the scientist. "And it's you again, Girly. What have you been up to?"

I never had the chance to answer. I heard my pokemon cry out and I only had a moment to watch a charcoaled body of black and red of a Team Magma grunt hit me with a fist to the gut and my head bounced off the back of a rock. I felt my body hit the ground, but I had no feeling at the moment other then numbly hitting the cool ground and a set of hands ripping the meteorite out of my hands. It all blacked out after that.

**Third Person Point of View:**

Away from Jezebel in the Meteor Falls on the far west mountainous coast, back on Mt. Chimney, a volcano that is on the near center of the region of the mainland. Upon this very active mountain, a man stood at the top, a woman at his side with two younger looking kids behind them, roughly around the age of possibly ten. The four of them looked over at the lava while a few grunts that Jezebel had dealt with, still covered in their burned clothes and small patches of scarred skin, had the meteorite in one of the grunts' hands.

"Sir, we retrieved the meteorite." The man of the group turned around while his group of three around him watched him take the stone into his hands.

"Good, and now, with this stone, we will activate this volcano and find Groudon!" The man greedily held the stone before he walked over to a machine that stood next to the four of them and he placed it inside. Once the stone was set, power was sent throughout the machine which was sent to other machines that were set up throughout the volcano.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I groaned as I felt myself coming too. My head was pounding and my lower abdomen was tingling with pain. I blinked my eyes as I tried to sit up and I saw flashes of many colors, but none that I could make sense of. I heard voices, but none of them came through clearly. I felt something help me sit up and I leaned on it to stay up. I saw a large patch of white with some green and red. It was Blade. I could barely feel his tense body under my own.

I blinked and finally was able to sit up without the help of Blade on my side. I felt a small pokemon sit in my lap that gently tapped my hand with a small arm.

"Well it's about time you woke up, Girly." My eyes widened and I threw up my head only to see my uncle right in my face. He was scowling at me while my pokemon stood out before me and the apparent scientist who stood over me and made sure I wouldn't fall over.

"Shut up. I didn't see you do anything to stop- Team Magma!" I jumped to my feet and suddenly lost all the energy I'd just gotten back and fell on Blaze. "The meteorite!"

"Gone, Girly. You were taken out by a stray Magma grunt." Archie shook his head and bent his knees so he hovered over the ground and was almost a foot under my height, even when I was leaning on Blaze. "They're probably all the way over to Mt. Chimney by now."

"Mt. Chimney?"

"They've had control over that mountain for a couple years now, but didn't come out and into the open until a few months ago. The goal of Team Magma is to expand the land and reduce the water we have in the world." He snorted. "It's the exact opposite from Team Aqua's dream…"

"Both of those dreams are stupid." His eyes went wide as he glared up at me. "The world has a perfect balance of the two right now, making more or less would destroy wildlife and so many lives in the process, and no one has the power to do as much work as what you're claiming your team can do."

Archie suddenly lost his cruel face and laughed for a moment before he shook his head again. "Just like Shelly said, you can't be easily swayed…"

I gasped; it just lightly passed my lips. _Aunt Shelly… she's in on this too?_ I couldn't confirm it since I haven't seen her in a Team Aqua uniform yet, but the way he said it…

"I wasn't about to be swayed in the first place, Archie."

The man's eyes went wide as he looked at me. "How do you know my name?"

"Are you really going to ask me that or stop Team Magma? Or are you really not on their side?" With the help of Blade, I got up to my feet and off of Blaze before I made my way past my uncle (who was still blissfully unaware that I knew who he was or that I was his niece) and hurried toward the exit.

I left the man in the dust and hurried off back to town before Mattie would call a search party on me.

**Matthew's Point of View:**

It had been hours, hours since I'd left her over at the mountain. I was worried sick that she'd gotten in trouble or hurt over there, but I was worried that she'd come back if I went to look for her and passed right by her. I was so torn on what to do, I almost tore my hair out thinking about it.

Aria and Casey soon showed up and calmed me down for a bit when they arrived just a short while after I did. They reminded me that Jezebel could look after herself, but that didn't stop me from worrying, not to mention that it got worse when time flew by and it turned out to be almost four hours later since when I left her. We were almost about ready to search ourselves before we would call the police.

Then, all of a sudden, the girl burst through the door. She rushed in and handed her pokemon to Nurse Joy while she was out of breath and while her pokemon were being healed, she sat down before the counter and we all ran up to her. I could see a small trickle of blood on the edge of her hairline and I gasped at her.

"J-jezebel! W-what happened to y-you?" The three of us rushed over to her, but she seemed to be ignoring us at the time.

"Not now, Mattie; I have somewhere to be. I'll be back for you when I'm done." She seemed jumpy as she waited for her Pokemon; she proved my point when Aria rushed around before her and put both her hands on Jezebel's shoulders.

"Jez, what happened? Was it Team Aqua? Team Magma? Who hurt you and who do we have to fight?"

"I have to take care of something."

"No, _we_ do, together, Jez." Casey stepped up to the plate. I was shocked to see him look at Jezebel straight in the eye and not be fazed by her angered look. "_We are_ going to help you. This has gone on far enough with you running away to take care of these things with Team Aqua and Team Magma on your own. We're your friends, Jez. Don't you trust us?"

"It's not that-!"

"Then what is it? Are we not strong enough?"

"No-!"

"Then what?"

"_Shut up!_" She screeched at Casey and he flew back, landing on the ground from her exploud voice. "Just shut up!"

"No, we won't!" Aria jumped before her then and took the reins of this crazy argument. "We're not letting you do this again, Jez. We're here to help you. You don't have to face this alone!"

"No! _I_ have to face this alone!"

She just wouldn't see our side as we saw her basically tearing herself apart over this… "J-jezebel! Please!"

"_NO!_" Her entire body was shaking before she fell to the ground. Tears spilled from her eyes endlessly, something I'd never seen on this girl, nor did I ever want to. I… I loved the brave side of her, the one where she was strong and fearless. I hated to see her torn like this…

"Jez…" Aria didn't allow the girl a chance to argue before she brought the other female into her arms. Jezebel sobbed before she took hold of Aria's body before her and cried into her shoulder. Endless tears fell; thousands of sobs escaped her mouth in a single breath. She'd been holding all of this in, and for who knows how long.

"So… what's the plan? Because I hope you don't keep us out of the loop again." Casey was already back to his feet and looking down at Jezebel. She looked up at him through the tears before she blinked them away in a mad rushed and jumped back to her feet, bringing up Aria with her.

"Get your pokemon healed. We're heading to Mt. Chimney." Nurse Joy brought out her pokemon there and they all released themselves before the nurse could put down her tray. All pokeballs were levitated over to Jezebel and she shoved them in her pocket. "We've got two organizations to stop. And once we take care of this… I'll tell you guys everything…" She moved away from the counter and we followed after her. All our pokemon had been previously healed, and she sighed before she led us out the door. "Let's go, then."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I never expected myself to break down in front of my friends. I honestly never expected them to force as much out of me as they did. I was going to be in for a rude awakening once I had to tell them everything once the battle was over, but I would hold in all of it, along with my rage, until I took out the Team Magma leader, and possibly Uncle Archie as well if I needed to.

We took the long walk back to route one-eleven before taking the detour onto one-twelve that led to Mt. Chimney where we would see the feud. Just like Uncle Archie had told me, it was still blocked off, but this time by Team Magma. As soon as I got into close enough range of them and I watched them draw their pokeballs, Blade was already out before me and used his psychic powers to hurl them into the rocks.

Morals be damned. I was taking them down.

The others all hurried onto the tram and I kicked the lever to take us up before jumping in the glass and green box. I clenched my case handle in my hands; the heat was built up in my body from the rage and sadness that I've felt over all this time. Things just felt like something bad was going to happen, I didn't understand why, other then maybe I was right about my aunt, so many scenarios running through my head. I was startled out of it when Mattie reached for my hand.

"W-we'll be okay…" I felt him squeeze my hand. "D-don't worry about u-us. J-just take out T-team Magma."

I nodded to the boy and looked out the window as we approached the top of the mountain. I could already see flashes of fire and scattering rocks from where battles were already taking place.

The door opened and we were almost hit with a fire attack from a numel that was facing off against a Team Aqua grunt before us. Blaze leapt over the Aqua grunt and threw his foot at the fire pokemon and it was crushed into the ground. The grunts both looked over at me and gaped as I rushed around them, ignoring the pokemon that the Aqua grunt had, and the others rushed with me.

We hurried up the side of the mountain paths, passing more grunts of both teams along the way. They were all facing off against each other in heated battles of equal strength where they were trying to either get past or stop the opposing team. It seemed that Team Magma was protecting the peak of the mountain.

"All right! Now we get to have some fun and kick some ass!" Aria laughed and hurried out to the side and released her pokemon, and to my shock, she actually had a grovyle on her team. _Was it the one that belonged to Professor Birch? It would explain why he was there when we were in Slateport…_

"Jez, watch out!" I had zoned out and Casey rushed before me and unleashed his mudkip, or the evolved form of it. It fired a beam of water at the two members of Team Magma when they came to attack me. They were thrown back and Casey turned back to me. "Jez! Take Mattie and head up! Aria and I got this down here with the grunts! We'll send them packing and get them off the mountain!"

"All right!" I quickly pulled Mattie along and up the path while Casey kept the grunts at bay that tried to make their way after me. I gasped when I made it up ahead and there was my uncle fighting a group of grunts all at once with a mightyena. He seemed to be holding his own for the most part. My eyes widened through when I saw off to the side that there were four grunts facing off against each other. I recognized them as having features of my uncles and aunts in their features. The Team Magma grunts were only about ten years of age, from under their hoods; I could see the pale white skin of my mother's side of the family and the same green eyes too. From the female of the two, I saw that she had dark red hair, much like her father's.

_Eyna? Edan? Why are they here? Don't tell me…_ Glancing past them over at the two Team Aqua grunts next to them that they were facing, I saw the jet black coloring of Uncle Archie's hair on their heads and the sapphire like eyes along with uniforms. One was ten while the other had to have been either eight or nine. _Caspian? Nixie? No…_

My head whipped around the battle field before me and I saw my next fear, vibrant red hair of wild curls in a Team Aqua uniform that was customized just for herself. _Aunt Shelly…_ And her opponent was a Team Magma higher up that had a longer skirt that went down below her knees and vibrant red gloves and mahogany hair that was just as curly as Aunt Shelly's slipping out from under the hood. _Aunt Courtney…_

And lastly, up on the top of the mountain was a man that stood with dark red hair combed back over his head and a thick coat that came down to his knees that was a dull dark red in color with a grey shoulder and arm on the left side that held the Team Magma emblem. Grey pants were under the jacket and he looked down at all of us with a scowl. My eyes took hold on him and I couldn't stop the tears that escaped the corners of my eyes. _Uncle Maxie…_

"Jezebel!" I turned back to look at Mattie who gasped upon seeing my face. I still couldn't believe it. My entire family was here and doing all these horrible deeds… kidnapping pokemon… hurting people… staining the good name that my father had tried so hard to make for all of us… they were ruining their lives…!

I turned away from Mattie, ignoring his cries to me as a sob escaped me. My pokemon turned to me, all in shock as they heard the thoughts that were racing through my mind thanks to Blade. I clenched my fist and walked toward the group off to the side, my cousins. Nixie, the youngest of all of them, noticed me as I approached. Her eyes widened when she saw my face. I knew that she had no idea who I was, and even if she did, I didn't care. My face was something that she couldn't take her eyes off of, even when her older brother told her to.

"Caspian! Look out!" My fist connected to his face before she could get close and stop me. I brought my hand back and slapped her across the face and she landed on the ground. Their pokemon looked at me in shock before Blaze appeared before me and knocked all four of them out of the way, even those of my cousins on the other side of the family while I approached the twins.

"What-" Edan had no time to respond as I punched him in the gut and sent him to his knees before I looked over at his twin sister and threw my foot at her. She cried out and it gathered the attention of others, especially their mothers and fathers.

"Eyna! Edan!" I heard my aunt from the Team Magma side of the family cry out before Aunt Courtney rushed toward us and my pokemon skidded in before her, guarding me. "Get away from my children!"

Silently, and while the numb tears still began to flow, just like the lava below us, I pointed a hand at her and Acey growled before she took hold of her with her teeth after hiding under the soil and toppled her over. My aunt gasped and backed away from my growling ground type before a bright glow emitted around her. My shiny trapinch glowed in a white light and sparkle before its body shape changed and no longer was my smaller pokemon a dark green color, but tan and red. It had a slender body that looked a bit more like an insect shape that had four thin arms on its underside and two short antennae on its head. It had two wings on either side of its body as well as two tiny ones on the end of its tail to help with flight control that were all colored a bright red with black outlining. Red eyes were on her face and she hissed out before an attack appeared before her mouth, one that was black, purple and red in color. She fired it at my aunt and Aunt Courtney took off running toward the mountain peak where her pokemon was. I saw grunts rush behind me to grab my cousins, and I let them. I was more focused on those that were on the mountain peak right now.

On both of my sides, Blaze and Blade stood next to me. I vaguely saw Blade's eyes glow as we came closer to the mountain peak. I felt something slip from my bag and out came the dawn stone that Steven had given me so long ago. He took it into his hands, and all of a sudden, both of my two bodyguard pokemon that looked after me the most began to evolve.

Blaze evolved first; he grew to a height that was well over my head, a few feet or more at least. His legs became thick and long for better kicking and the claws on his hands looked a bit more like hands, just with only three fingers. A 'v' shaped piece appeared on his nose and just below the longer part of that were his bright yellow eyes. His body was mostly red with the exception of the long tannish white hair on his back that came down like in an upside down 'v', almost like my hair, but it also carried a bit over onto his chest. On the edge of his legs it was yellow and his claws were gray as well as his hands up to his lower arms.

Blade on the other hand took another form entirely because of the stone. I watched him become just as tall as Blaze was and sword like appendages appeared for his arms that connected with the rest of his arms halfway up those swords. The lower half of him was white while the upper half was a dark green. The same red piece was still sticking out on his chest, but it was more triangular in shape and a darker red then before. White hair seemed to almost spike off the back of his head past his red eyes, but a greenish cap sat over his head and came down until just over his mouth. On that green cap on his head, dark blue green hair came up, but stopped halfway up his head, then a stripe was on the other half that led toward the front to where his mouth was.

Both of them stood out and protectively before me as all grunts and my aunts' pokemon growled and slowly began to make their way closer to us. By this point, I didn't care what happened to me. I didn't care if I hurt my family (my human one that was). They had soiled our name too many times to count, and now, I was going to make them pay.

"Take them out." Blaze and Blade took off at the command and flew forward and both their fists hit the mightyena and threw them off to the side. Blade's arms began to then glow, one a bright green and another a bright purple. Blaze's legs became encased in fire and his claws drawn out. Blaze leapt first and threw his kick at the golbat that was flying in the air and sent it crashing into the ground before Blaze kept up his assault on the evolved form of numel, a camerupt, behind it. Flames went flying everywhere and the camerupt cried out with every hit that was landed and its inability to fight back.

Blade on the other hand had his two blade-like arms out before him and crushed another golbat to the side before jumping over its body and using the green blade arm to hit a grounded sharpedo, the evolved form of carvanha, off to the side as well.

Both my aunts were left defenseless and they returned their pokemon before running off to their husbands. Uncle Archie was still tied up with a few grunts that wouldn't let him through, but he was almost here, probably enraged at me for beating the crap out of his kids. Uncle Maxie was no different as he stood atop of the hill with his face a pure dark purple color. I honestly thought he was about ready to perform a self-destruct attack himself.

"So you're the girl that's been messing with both of our affairs. What does a child like you want with us?"

"And that matters to you why?" I snorted at them. "I thought you'd be more concerned over the fact that I just beat up your children, niece and nephew."

"What?" The man's eyes went wide for a moment, the fact that I knew who he was halting his rage. "How do you know about that?"

"I was a good friend of the daughter of the Petalburg gym leader, Norman. Her name was Jezebel." I slowly began to walk closer to him. "She used to tell me how she loved her family, but also how little she ever got to see them due to her mother. She showed me pictures. I know all the details of your faces and how you act, and what you're drawn to." I shook my head as I ended up right before my pokemon. Silky looked down at me, and Acey glanced at me as well. I nodded to the two of them and they flew off together toward the rocks to my left. "When I learned that her beloved family had gone and soiled their name by being the leading criminals in Hoenn, do you think I was about to sit back and allow you all to do as you wished? To let the poor girl know that she has this to deal with that as well as her own fucking mother?"

The battle had entirely stilled as members of all levels watched my argument with my uncle, to which none of them seemed to be able to figure out that I was the niece that I was talking about, but they didn't need to know that. They needed to _suffer_.

"And for that girl, that girl that cared about me and was my best friend, I will crush _both_ of your organizations and make sure that nothing is left standing for her, so she doesn't have to suffer from this too!" A crash echoed off to the right and my uncle turned his head to see my two flying pokemon bringing me back the meteorite that was connected to all the machines around the bubbling volcano. It seemed to settle down a bit when it was removed and all the machines powered down. "Just like I did this one and all the other ones before it."

My uncle then hissed out, clearly unimpressed that his operation had been ruined by a young girl, but he shook his head and held up his hand. "Fine, we'll leave, for now. Team Magma, fall back!" Uncle Maxie watched as his members quickly returned their pokemon and took off with many of the Team Aqua members chasing after them. Most of them disappeared from sight before I saw all four of my aunts and uncles glaring at me before the Emery set of them began to back up and took off, hiding and escaping behind the rocks.

"Run all you want. I'll find you again and ruin things just like now." I whipped my head to my only present uncle and aunt. "And that includes your team too."

"Whose side are you really on?" Uncle Archie questioned me as Aunt Shelly tried to pull him away.

"Let her go. We need to plan and regroup!" Against my aunt's reasonable thinking, my uncle would not leave without an answer from me. He stared me down until I sighed and rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm on Jezebel's side." Both of them looked up at me in shock before I began to walk toward them with my pokemon at my sides. Blaze and Blade stood at my sides, only a step or two before me to keep me safe and out of reach. "The side that takes both of you down for her sake." I kept on walking and pushed past the two of them as I hurried toward my friends. "Now get out of my sight."

"Wait!" I couldn't help but stop under his command. It froze me just as I was about to take another step. "Tell me one thing at least before you go. How was Jezebel before you left Littleroot?"

"How in hell-" I whipped around to look at the guilty man.

"I always kept tabs on her. I'm sure Maxie did too. We didn't want any of our… _activities_ to be too close where she was and could wander off to."

I snorted at him before turning right back around. A tear slipped from my eye remembering all the years that I had to suffer through because of my mother. "In desperate need of a friend."

The male shouted again and tried to stop me once more, but my pokemon stopped him from doing that. Archie eventually gave up and when I turned to check, the man was gone. I sighed and hurried back to the others, who had their pokemon out and were healing wounds, a bit out of breath, but otherwise fine. The three of them came up to me and Aria was the first one to pull me into her arms before Mattie and then Casey did so.

"Jez… was it true?" Aria was practically sobbing as she questioned me and tried to hold onto me. "Are they really…"

"Your… uncles and… aunts?" Mattie finished for her, but still with massive welts of tears in his eyes.

"And even your cousins?" Casey added in. All three of them looked at me with the saddest looks on their faces and tears streaming from their eyes, almost like they were going through this pain right now instead of me.

"Yes." The whole world seemed to freeze over then. Even being on top of a volcano didn't help the cold that ran up through all of our beings from my answer. "Now do you see… why I didn't…" Tears finally then graced my dry eyes and slipped down the sides of my cheeks. "Why I didn't… want to say… anything…?"

Brittany's Point of View:

"So Brittany, I have your most recent results from the scans and I regret to inform you that-"

The doctor was speaking to me, he was telling me things, but they barely made it to my ear as I regrettably thought over my daughter and how she had run away from me. I was torn over the fact that I couldn't find her and I had to turn to Norman for help, only to have him slap that help right back in my face. He told me how she'd shown up and became a trainer and left to go on a journey. A journey? A pokemon journey, the one thing that I'd never allowed her, the freedom and both human and Pokemon friends that she's surrounded herself with.

He told me of the friends that she'd made, young Casey Birch whose parents were my neighbors, young Matthew Ashling, old neighbors of ours in Petalburg when I was actually there, young Aria Charolette, the energetic red head whose mother used to be my best friend. All of them… all of them were making my Jezebel happy. Something that I could never do for her, even with all the time I tried to spend with her when I wasn't working. I tried to make it right. I really did, but Jezebel… she was like me in her younger years. So eager to leave on a journey, so unafraid of the world… I remember the first time I left home and Maxie, bless my brother, was so worried for me when I left for the first time, being his older sister after all.

And then… things all came crashing down on me after that accident… after… after they all _died_… I was the only survivor… but with a price and a death sentence labeled on my head… So many surgeries, so much pain… it still echoes in my head as my life draws closer to a close…

"Brittany, are you listening to me?" I drifted my eyes up to my doctor. He sadly looked down at me with a clipboard in his hands. He was the only other one that knew. No one else did, not even back when I was a teenager. I lied to everyone, even my own brother… He'll be devastated when he hears the news I've been keeping from him…

"Just… thinking…"

"About?"

"My daughter… my family…"

He sighed. "I'm sorry things didn't turn out as you wanted them to turn out, Brittany, but you should have told everyone if you wanted them to stick around. It would have given your daughter a reason to stick around."

"I couldn't do that to her…" I smiled as I glanced down at the engagement ring and wedding band on my finger. It had our birth stones on the engagement ring, all three of ours, my husband, myself and my daughter. "She was just like me when I was her age… I couldn't break that will with what I'm labeled with from the accident."

"But it may have kept her around until you passed."

"But then she'd never want to leave, my husband, brother, brother in law, sisters in law, nieces, nephews… they'd all be hanging over me like I was a frail old woman. I don't want that life for any of them. I'd rather them hate me." I shook my head at him. "I know most of them hate me, and that's the way I'd rather it be right now. I want them to enjoy their own lives, even at the expense of my own. Especially with mine being… almost over."

"Brittany…" my doctor only sighed as he looked down at the paperwork. "I hate to hear you say that, but after all you've been through… I guess there's nothing I could do or say to change that." He flipped the papers over to look at its contents before he sighed. "And, as I'm sure you didn't hear me the first time, I'll repeat it. Brittany, I'm sorry to say you only have half a year to a year at best to live. The tumor has gotten too large. I can't remove it, and the treatments aren't working anymore. Your cells have adapted to the chemo."

"I know." A few stray tears fell from my eyes. "I'll do whatever I can to spend some more time with my daughter before then, but until then, please try to keep me alive." I smiled at him through the tears. "I know my daughter can make it further then I did. I want to see her make it to the top before I pass."

My doctor stared at me for the longest time before I saw him release a breath that he was holding. He pulled out a machine and started to hook it up to me. "I'll do all I can Brittany, you know that."

"Yes…" I looked up at my pocketbook and the picture that sat atop it of my family. My wonderful husband… his brother, wife and children… my brother… his wife and children… and my own daughter. "I know that."

**Rosalie's Point of View:**

"Well this is pitifully boring." I leaned against the rock atop of Mt. Chimney. My… boss (and I used that term as loosely as I could) had already retreated with his troops and that of my brother's "team" had done the same. The place was so vacant; all I could hear was the popping of lava in the volcano on occasion and the sobbing of those four children that somehow managed to take out both groups.

When I thought about it, the actions of those kids reminded me so much of Violet Vilmos and Gwyn Jalen, how they always seemed to get in my way… more and more people that were just as powerful or closer to my level of strength were being put against me. My organization had been disbanded twice. If I had any hope of bringing back Team Rocket once more, I needed help to bring it back and with the help of some of the grunts of Team Aqua and Team Magma, I would achieve it. I only had a small group right now, but it was enough, for the time being, to do our other work that we were working on.

While Maxie and Archie may have been after Groudon and Kyogre for reasons to change the world to make more land or sea, I wanted them to bring civilization to its knees, take over all the regions and get back my husband to take over the world, just like we planned. And with these legendary pokemon, I would do that. I would take the orbs and make them mine and destroy this region, then go back to my own and continue on my quest. I would take down Kanto and Johto, destroy Violet, Gwyn and all their little friends and followers. I would be reunited with my love… my wonderful Giovanni. The cruelest of men you could ever meet. He showed no love for pokemon, just the way I loved it. But he… was captured by Violet and Gwyn… trapped away in jail in an unknown location so no one could find him and help him escape… like me…

I tried so many times to find my love and free him, but when I couldn't find him, I vowed to be back, after I was stronger and after I had the pokemon that would be strong enough to take everyone down and get him out of there. And then just like we'd planned… we'd rule the world! Taking down region after region and making sure that everyone would obey. We'd crush all hope and take away all dreams. Pokѐmon of all kinds would be under the control of Team Rocket!

But alas, now is not the time yet. Even in my unstable mind I knew that. But… I couldn't help but grin as I looked at the group down below. I could feel the power from them, especially the girl in the middle. She was just like them, just like Violet and Gwyn… which means… she could become one of _them_… another one that I'd have to deal with.

"I guess I'll have to take them out early, then, starting with that girl!"

I leapt over the rocks and threw myself at them. The only thing letting them know I was there when the girl in green shoved them all away and took my hit.

I licked my lips. I loved the color of fresh blood…

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I sobbed together with my group of friends for what seemed like the longest time. It was so… comforting that they were there with me, but I knew we'd need to move on soon. My pokemon were most likely tired from spending so much time battling, not to mention that three of my pokemon evolved, which most likely took some energy out of them.

I pulled back from the others just to look over Casey's head when something sparkled off in the distance. Suddenly a woman appeared and raced at us with a rapid speed with claws on her hands. My eyes widened and I shouted and shoved all the others to the side while the woman hit me and knocked me back, her claw deep in my shoulder and fresh blood pouring all over it. I screamed out in pain and my pokemon took that next second to react, coming at the woman and facing her away from me. Silky rushed over to my shoulder and set her body over it while using morning sun to help me heal it and stop the bleeding. Blade and Blaze were out before me with Acey in half a second. I could feel Spinner shaking on my other shoulder in fear as he looked at the woman before he dived into my lap and hid away in my legs, terrified.

"Oh how I love fresh blood in the morning." She licked her claws as she looked past my pokemon at me. "Let's see how your pokemon deal with my pokemon! Go Gengar!" The woman ripped off the skin on her arm, at which I gasped. It was fake, and from the inside of it came a pokeball that was worn and dark. From it came a ghost pokemon I knew as gengar, one that seemed to be quite evil as it looked over at me. "Kill her, Gengar! Use curse! Implode her heart!"

I suddenly felt an expanding feeling in my chest. My chest… it throbbed in pain as I felt my heart beating faster and getting larger and larger by the second. I screamed out in pain and my eyes went wide, but all I could see was black splotches in my vision as I was fading away from the present and life itself.

"_Back off!_" I suddenly felt my heart be released and I rolled onto my side and coughed out the blood that had lodged in my system. I vaguely looked through my eyes and saw all of our pokemon defeated, even my team that was struggling to stand. _That woman… she beat all of us in those few short seconds? Or was I out longer then I thought?_

I saw movement in the corner of my vision. Gwyn and Violet had showed up. The two of them were dealing with the woman while someone else was apparently tending to us and our pokemon. I felt someone pick me up and I was being taken away from the battle before everything went black.

**Witch's Note:**

**Holy shit! Who would've thought that this chapter was gonna be this bad? Oh that's right, I did! Hope you all loved the chaos and blood as Jezebel finally meets Rose, all the members of her family that are in Team Aqua and Team Magma, and we find out a bit more about her mother, and the reason behind the way she acts toward her daughter. **

**So as you all know, the time has come for feedback, Reviews and Questions. I hope to get a few! Please send in your thoughts and let me know what you think!**

**I love you all and I'll see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	14. A Scorching Battle

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 14: A Scorching Battle_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I woke up with the most horrid pain in the side of my chest and I cried out when I felt it pulse. I squinted open my eyes and tried to look around, only to see a few bodies flying before my vision. I glanced around and as the time passed on and the pain began to numb in my side, I saw something glowing in front of me. I think I saw… was it Violet?

"Hang in there, girl. Everything's gonna be alright." I could barely hear her, but I tried my hardest to stay with her as she kept healing my chest. Eventually, things seemed to calm down and my vision began to clear as I saw the girl more clearly and I noticed that her umbreon was next to her, also using his healing ability. I began to see things past her and saw her own pokemon worriedly fretting over my head. I believe it was her umbreon who had the gift of healing with powers of the moonlight.

"Whoa… what hit me…?"

"Rose, sadly." I heard Violet sigh and I closed my eyes for a moment and just listened to her. "She attacked you and your friends after Team Magma and Team Aqua left the area." I heard her chuckle. "Congrats for getting them out of the area. Not many can take down the admins of criminal organizations."

I snorted. "It doesn't matter. I didn't face their leaders. They ran off before I could battle them, and there was also Rose. I wasn't able to take her on."

"Well, I didn't expect you to take her on in battle. You only have three badges." I felt her hand pat my hair. "You're just a young trainer. There's no need to rush."

"There is. I have to stop Team Aqua and Team Magma." I groaned as I felt my head pulse at the sound of them. "Man, my head hurts."

"Why exactly do those two teams mean so much to you?" I glanced up through my eyelids at the woman who worriedly looked down at me. I could see the worry in her older eyes; she had about four to five years over me and my friends.

"I don't need them messing up my friends' journeys. They've already attacked us a few times; I just plan on making their lives hell."

"Really? It doesn't have to do anything with that story that you were telling them?" My eyes widened at that. "I don't know what you told them, but the look on their faces told me you had to have said something. I don't expect you to tell me if its personal, but I know there's another reason behind it."

"And I'd rather it stay that way for a while, but yes, it is personal." I slowly began to sit up in the bed and propped myself up against the pillows I was laying on. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a week." My eyes widened at her. "Your pokemon have been worried sick, but they were trying to stay strong and continue training. I was shocked to see even your little fearful surskit training and he evolved, but was still reluctant to fight most of the time. He does still tend to spend most of his time with your beautifly."

"Spinner? He battled? He evolved?"

"Yes, into a masquerain. I also noticed that your kirlia evolved into a Gallade. I was shocked to see that you managed to get a Sinnoh region pokemon here."

"So that's what Blade is now?"

"Would you like to get the information on them? Your pokemon are all outside, I'll show you Blade's information now since I know you can't get it on your own pokedex." She pulled out her own pokedex and showed me a picture of my pokemon on her ocean blue pokedex that was old and worn from the past four years.

_Gallade, the blade pokemon and the evolved form of kirlia with a dawn stone and only in a male form. A master of courtesy and swordsmanship, he fights using the extending swords on his elbows. When trying to protect someone, he extends his elbows as if they were swords and fights savagely. Because he can sense what his foe is thinking, he attacks first, fast and fiercely. There are no known gallade nests in this region._

I blinked over at the information of my newly evolved pokemon before I slowly stood up from my bed. I looked out the window and used the frame to hold me up as I saw most of the others training outside heavily with their and my own pokemon. I saw Blaze first; he was throwing out flaming punches at Aria's grovyle. Casey's marshstomp was also facing off against my pokemon, against Acey, and she was knocking him all over the place with the speed she now had now that she had evolved and gained wings. Spinner was working with Silky as they faced off against Mattie's new pokemon, Kaida, and while Spinner did have a bit of trouble, Silky kept right up with him and helped him out. I pulled out my own pokedex and pointed it at all the new pokemon.

_Blaziken, the blaze pokemon and the evolved form of combusken. It learns martial arts that use punches and kicks. Every several years, its old feathers burn off, and new, supple feathers grow back in their place. When facing a tough foe, it releases flames from its wrists. Its powerful legs let it jump clear over buildings. There are no known blaziken nests in this region. _

_Vibrava, the vibration pokemon and the evolved form of trapinch. It releases ultrasonic waves by rubbing its wings together. Since a vibrava's wings are still in the process of growing, it can only fly short distances. This pokemon's ultrasonic waves are so powerful, they can bring on headaches in people. There are no known vibrava nests. Please wait… updating shiny pokemon information…_

Poor little Spinner. I could see that his body had changed. He could fly now, and had a set of thin wings on his sides, four of them. His body was a light blue/lavender color and had a set of skin that had grown out of his head that looked like a giant eye with a brown background that was split in two. His eyes were wide as he flew around in a mad dash to keep up with Silky.

_Masquerain, the eyeball pokemon and the evolved form of surskit. It intimidates foes with the large eyelike patterns on its antennae. Because it can't fly if its wings get wet, it shelters itself from rain under large trees and leaves. There are no known masquerain nests in this region. _

Aria's newest pokemon, her grovyle, was a dark green in color with somewhat stubby legs that had a lot of muscle to them. It looked like it could jump over a building, like Blaze could. Attached to his light green arms there were long leaves that looked like blades while another long leaf came down the top of its head. It had a reddish underbelly and yellow eyes and a longer face.

_Grovyle, the wood gecko pokemon and the evolved form of treecko. Leaves grow out of this pokemon's body. They help obscure a grovyle from the eyes of its enemies while it is in a thickly overgrown forest. Its strongly developed thigh muscles give it astounding agility and jumping performance. There are no known grovyle nests in this region. _

I was also surprised to see that Casey had a new pokemon on his team. There were thick claws on its front arms that were brown while the rest of the body was grey with some spots of green and large bug like eyes on a longer bodied bug pokemon with four legs behind its claws. There were two antennae on its head down before its face.

_Nincada, the trainee pokemon. It makes its nest at the roots of a mighty tree. Using its whisker-like antennae, it probes its surroundings in the pitch-black darkness of soil. Because it lived almost entirely underground, it is nearly blind. It uses its antennae instead. Nincada nests are uncommon and tend to be found on route one-sixteen. _

I shook my head as I took in all the information and it was then that I saw Blaze look back to the window that I stood in. He blinked before he cried out to the others and all action on the field halted as the others all looked up at me. I waved lightly to them before I had all my pokemon rushing their way up to me in the second story of the building I was in, and from the white color, I assumed it was a hospital.

Blade and Blaze both jumped up and grabbed a hold of the roof in order to hang there with their legs against the walls to talk with me. Silky, Spinner and Acey quickly flew into the room and circled around me, landing on whatever free inch of skin they could find that wasn't my shoulder that Rose tore up.

"Hey you guys, sorry I made you worry." My pokemon seemed not to care in that moment as they grabbed any part of me that they could and hugged me all over. I even saw my two guardian pokemon reach their hands in to grab mine. I couldn't help but show them a smile, one that they all desperately needed to see after a long week of me being knocked out. "Are you guys alright?"

"Blaze… blaziken blaze. Blaziken blaze blaze." Blaze was quick to reach up past my hand and touch the side of my face.

"And I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm fine, other than a few dings on my body, that is." I shook my and patted everyone's face. "Let me get changed really quickly and I'll be downstairs and outside in a little bit. I could use some fresh air and I'd like to see the others." My pokemon nodded, but they seemed to refuse to leave. I snorted a laugh and turned back to Violet. "Can I have my clothes? I'm gonna take a shower."

The woman nodded and grabbed them from behind herself on a table. "Just be careful not to touch the newly grown skin around your wound, it's still going to hurt for a few days or more, girl, so be careful." I nodded to her and walked to the shower before my pokemon jumped off my body and allowed me in the shower room.

I left the door cracked for them and quickly hopped in to get cleaned up. I felt so filthy as the water rolled down over my body, and I quickly pulled out a washcloth to help wipe away the dirt.

"Hey Violet?" I heard movement on the other side of the door and she pushed it open before I heard her set herself on the vanity, listening.

"What's up?" she finally questioned me after I didn't speak for a few moments.

"Tell me this… why did Rose attack me?"

"Why? Well… there are a lot of reasons for that, Hon." I heard the woman sigh and she shook her head. "First and foremost, your two shiny pokemon."

"Silky and Acey? What about them?"

"Rose has always had a fetish for shiny Pokemon. She tried to kill me many times over for Amethyst, my charizard. She did the same thing to Gwyn with Scarlet, her gyarados. Now the fact that you have two in your possession compared to one makes you an even more likely target. Even your friend Aria is in danger from Rose in that regard." She paused for a moment to let this information sit and I turned back to my shower got back to cleaning myself up. "The second reason has, most likely, to do with her madness; she's obsessed with killing people. I bet she was assuming that some people would die in the battle between the two organizations that you fought against, but when you came in and stopped them, she lost it and decided to take you out." I heard Violet sigh again and the woman jumped off the vanity, I could hear it when her shoes hit the ground. "She loves to watch blood roll down a body's pale skin, she's obsessed with watching a soul leave a person's body, and not only that, but she loves to see their agony as they die. She's killed hundreds of people in the past; she won't hesitate to do it again in the present or future."

"Okay…" I felt my blood start pumping from that reason, that woman was seriously insane. "But…" I tried to get back on track. "What about the other reasons?"

"The last major one that I can really tell you about, Hon, is that you're powerful." I blinked for a moment before I peeked through the shower curtain at the woman. "You're stronger than normal trainers. It could be the fact that you're the daughter of a gym leader, or you were destined to have this kind of bond with your pokemon and meet very powerful pokemon. In essence, Rose believes that because you are strong at a young age and are so finely tuned with your pokemon, that you'll turn out like me and Gwyn, and most likely follow in our footsteps."

"You mean like to become the champion of Hoenn? That _is_ part of my dream."

"Part?" The woman blinked at me in surprise. "What's the other part of this dream of yours?"

"Being with my family again, both of them, and having control over my life." I sighed as I finished up in the shower and shut off the water. I reached out to grab my towel and felt Violet hand it to me. "Thanks. And as I was saying, my mother has taken me away from all of my family that has meant something to me, both human and pokemon. I want to be able to change that, and with power on my side from being the champion, not only would I be the strongest trainer, my mother would have no choice but to listen to me."

"I can see where you're coming from entirely. I was on the run from my own mother when I was your age." I blinked at the woman as I stepped out of the shower.

"You were?"

She grinned at me. "You better believe it, Hon. My mother found out I was attacked by Team Rocket on my first day of becoming a trainer and totally flipped. She tried to send my brother and my boyfriend after me to keep me safe. That didn't happen or work of course… but…" The woman paused for a moment and I was on the end of my feet listening to her story.

"But what?"

"But once I made peace with my mother… my goal changed. Of course I still wanted to be a champion, and I'm glad I am one, but I wanted to be strong to help others, like my mother, like my younger brother at the time, not to mention I wanted to take Team Rocket down and lock away their bosses. I've only managed to get one. Now I'm after the other."

"Oh, wow…" I gaped at her before I snorted. "That's great and everything, Violet, but I doubt I'll ever see eye to eye with my mother. She's too… _controlling_ to say the least."

She chuckled and walked over to ruffle my wet hair. "Don't talk like that. I thought so too for a while, and look how things turned out for me. Just give her a chance. Christmas is coming up, why not then?"

"That's still not for almost two months away, and I still don't think it's gonna work." I shook my head and looked away from her. "…but I'll give it a shot. But that's it."

She snorted a laugh at my last comment. "Glad to hear it, Hon. Now get dressed. You have a lot of people who want to see you, not to mention some people who want to meet you." The champion then took her leave from the bathroom and allowed me to dress in peace. I slipped on my clean clothing in silence before I stepped out of the bathroom and put on my shoes in the room I was staying in.

My pokemon were all waiting for me there and so was Violet with her dark type around her shoulders. She grinned when she saw me all dressed and sat on the windowsill before she turned around on it and slip off the wood and off to the ground. I rushed over to see her land on the ground, and to my surprise she was already there, grinning up at me with her lazy dark type.

"Well, let's head down too… oww…" I flinched at the pain in my shoulder and chest from where Rose hit me, it was going to be a while before I could do dramatic stuff like I used to do. I turned to Blaze, who seemed to have hands compared to Blade's solid arms, or solid arms with a small set of hands at the end of the bladed arm. "Can one of you guys help me down? I'm not ready for extreme stunts again yet."

Blaze nodded and reached into the window. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the soft and thick feathers of his coat, before he pulled my body out of the window and set me back in his arm. He released the roof in his other hand and allowed us to fall to the ground. I never even felt the landing as Blaze's feet hit the ground. Blade followed right after and all my flying pokemon raced after me, still crowding around once I was on the ground. Blaze set me down, but kept a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it- thankfully, the one that wasn't hurt.

"Jez!" I turned my head at my name that someone screeched. Aria was at the head of the pack of my own friends that were racing toward me. Casey was shortly behind her, almost trying to overtake her, the two of them seemed to be in a competition to see who could get to me first. Poor Mattie was left in the back and had a hard time running after them with his heart problems and asthma.

Both Aria and Casey crashed into me and knocked me over onto my back when tackling me in a hug. Mattie rushed up behind them and from his shortness of breath; he fell on top of them, all on top of me. Casey and Aria ended up being both on half of my body from where they fell, and Mattie, who was over the two of them, was smack in the middle, almost lined up with my body. While the others were breathing heavily for air and looking away for a moment, I had a moment to myself where my emerald eyes were locked with Mattie's sapphire blue ones. There seemed to be this moment where they were just… stuck. I couldn't look away from the depth of the gem-like orbs he had for eyes.

"U-h-h… s-s-orry!" The moment was broken when Mattie threw himself off the pile and the others pushed themselves off me too.

"Oh, dear Latias… Jezebel, are you okay?" Aria was quick to come back over to me and help me sit up. "We didn't hurt you, did we?"

"Not at all, and I'm fine, all save for my pride that is." I sighed and showed her a smile. "Help me up?"

She gave me a sad smile, knowing where my sorrow was coming from. "Sure." She held out her hand, after getting to her feet, and took mine in her own before yanking me up. Once I was up, I felt Silky land herself on my head while Spinner grabbed onto my shoulder. Acey took the other one and Blade and Blaze took a stand on either side of me.

"Well now, she's got quite a line of defense there; she's gonna be a tough one, Vi." I turned my head around to look at the male that spoke. Dark brown hair covered his head and was cut short, but there was a good amount of volume to it. He had an old red and white hat on his head that had a pokeball on it as well as light blue jeans, a black short sleeved shirt with a red jacket tied around his waist, and a set of boots on his feet. He grinned at me and the glow in his chocolate eyes was unmistakable: Vincent Vilmos, older twin brother of Violet.

"I have to agree with him, for once." Another of the older men next to Vincent said. The spiky ginger/bronze hair upon his head was vibrant in its strange color. The male's body was covered in a set of fitting black jeans and a green shirt while a brown jacket was wrapped around his waist like that of his companion. His hazel eyes were also unmistakable. He was Alexander Oak, Violet's boyfriend.

"That's shocking, Alex. you're not one to normally say that." Another male caught my attention, this one being a few years younger than Alexander and Vincent. His vibrant red hair was long and came down to his shoulders while dark onyx eyes glanced out through his locks of hair. Dark indigo jeans hugged his legs while a black wife beater was on his chest. A set of dark boots covered his feet and he carried a black, leather jacket under his arm. Gwyn was with him and holding his hand tightly. It was easy to tell it was Tristan Vilmos, Violet's adopted younger brother and Gwyn's boyfriend.

"Who cares about that? This girl is a total badass! I wish I'd met her back when I was a beginning trainer; I'd loved to have battled her. Win or lose!" The last of the males cheered to himself and I watched him grin wildly. A darker yellow sleeveless shirt was on his body while he held onto a dark red jacket under his arms. He wore a set of ripped jean shorts and a set of black sneakers was on his feet. A black and yellow hat was on his head. That was Aaron Verin, Gwyn's childhood best friend.

"Can we play with her, finally, Violet?" A girl from atop of Aaron's shoulders asked the Kanto champion. "Bebi and Mr. Mewtwo and I have been waiting for a while." The little girl had a beautiful complexion of almost truly white skin and ice blond hair, which made her green eyes stand out among them. In the girl's bright hair were neon green highlights along the edges of her hair. She herself wore a bright yellow strapped shirt with white polkadots and white shorts along with a set of yellow and white shoes. She truly looked like a little angel, and she was the youngest of Violet's protégés, Levy Marveille

"Not now Levy, I'm sorry, but these kids have a hell of a lot of work to do." Violet shook her head at the younger girl who pouted at her. She then turned back to us. "I'm sorry it took me so long to introduce you to everyone, but I believe formal introductions are in order now, especially after what's happened." She moved in between the two sets of groups of ours and started to point to the males. "I'll start with my group first, and while I bet you know them, I'll introduce them anyway to be fair and polite."

"Wow, I'm shocked." Gwyn giggled at her comment and ducked as Violet threw a small rock that was nearby at her.

"Anyway, let's start off with the eldest." She pointed to Alexander. "This is my boyfriend, Alexander Oak, but call him Alex, he hates Alexander."

Alex wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek before glancing back at us and shrugged. "What she said."

"Next us my brother, Vincent Vilmos." She pointed at Vincent. "But for the same reasons as Alex, just call him Vince."

Vince sighed. "I really do hate my real name, it sounds so ancient…"

"Next I have my other brother, Tristan Vilmos." She pointed next to Tristan. "He has no nickname, so please don't call him anything else without his permission."

Tristan simply nodded to us and took a stronger hold of Gwyn.

"Now I know you girls know her, but just in case for the boys, the girl in Tristan's arms is Gwyn Jalen, champion of Johto."

Gwyn grinned at us while Casey's jaw dropped. It took me a whole couple seconds for me to realize that he'd never been with me when I met up with Gwyn, so he was the only one out of the loop.

"And on her other side, the last male is Aaron Verin, along with the girl on his shoulders, Levy Marveille, another protégé of mine."

The last two waved and laughed between each other before Aaron let her down to the ground and started tickling her. Violet shook her head at the two of them and turned back to the rest of us.

"And while you all may know this, I'm Violet Vilmos, champion of the Kanto region." She did a light bow for us in the arms of her boyfriend. "And now the four of you should introduce yourselves to us. We don't know all of you."

"U-us?" Mattie managed to stutter out as he looked to me, Casey and Aria nervously.

"It's all right Mattie; just introduce yourself to them. That's all they want." I patted the boy's shoulder as he nervously looked up at the group of people before us.

"I'll go first then!" Aria leapt forward before us and grinned at the others before us. "I'm Aria Charolette!" She almost jabbed herself with her thumb as she pointed to herself. "This girl is gonna be the best reporter one day!"

"And I'm Casey Birch, son of the esteemed Richard Birch." Casey smiled at them. "I hope to be just as knowledgeable as he is one day and become a researcher myself."

"U-um… I-I-I-I'm M-matti-ie…" Mattie barely got out his name before he seemed to get really nervous.

"Mattie," I touched the boy's shoulder and he whipped his head around to look at me. "Calm down. They just want to get to know you, that's all."

He slowly nodded to me before he looked back at the large group before us. "I-I'm Matthew Ashling… but you can c-call me M-mattie… I want… I-I want to become a-a strong t-trainer… and c-challenge the P-pokemon League…"

"And I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain." I glanced over at the other set of older trainers (with the exception of Levy). "I want to become the champion of the Hoenn Pokѐmon League."

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, there are some serious things we need to talk about." Violet kissed her boyfriend's cheek before she made her way across the field to where I was and joined up next to me. "Let's go get some food into all of us and we'll talk, because I'm sure there are a couple things you want to ask me."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Lunch was something that we all needed to calm down, even if Mattie was the only one of us that was freaking out. He honestly almost flipped out over his own shadow at one point, which made me glad that Violet suggested that we break for lunch.

I was _starved_.

I had already moved out of the hospital where I'd been kept for the last few days and we were over at a restaurant apparently all the way over in Fallarbor Town. We were brought back there while a cleanup crew took care of all the action that took place on the volcano a week ago. Violet's team of pokemon and members of the IPHP League had been looking after the four of us and our pokemon as we recovered and were helping the others and my own pokemon train while I was out. I was excited to see what they had learned while I was gone.

Right now we were talking over more training options for myself and my friends. Violet seemed to think that some seclusion for a month to sharpen our skills would be good, but I was having a hard time accepting it due to the possible Team Aqua and Team Magma activity that could go on while we were gone.

"I'm telling you, Jezebel, the region will have us while you guys train. We won't let anything happen on our watch." Violet was once again trying to convince me of what she was planning. "Every one of us will be taking a section of the region that we'll be guarding while you guys go train in Meteor Falls. We'll be also assisting companies in those areas to make sure all is covered. We'll also keep looking for bases for them in our free time."

"Violet, I know you're trying to help me out, but-"

"You want to be the one that takes them down. I know." She gave me a smile. "You got some sort of personal grudge with them and I'm not about to get in the way of that. That's why I suggested you take off for a bit and train to get stronger so you _can_ take them down in the future when you face them again. We're just gonna keep Hoenn in line for you while you're gone."

"How long would you suggest for us to stay there, Violet?" Casey questioned her.

"About a month I would suggest." She took a sip of the drink she had in her hands, reminding me much of root beer from the smell I could breathe in from across the table. "Christmas is still a bit of a ways away, but with about a month of training, it would leave you guys to get out of there just a few days to a week past the beginning of December. I would suggest then that all of you take your fourth gym battle and then head back home for the holidays or battle Norman and then do so. You all live relatively close to the area, so it wouldn't be hard. Instead of taking the long path back to Slateport and taking a boat back to Petalburg, you can take a short cut through the mountains here and end up right outside of Rustboro." She shrugged as she leaned against Alex's side. "It's your choice though, but I think the training would be helpful, and then to get away from everything for a while would help clear your heads."

"I don't know…" I sighed. Just thinking about Christmas made me dread the fact that I'd have to go home and spend it with my family that's all involved in criminal organizations or is hell bent on keeping me locked up for life. I didn't know which was worse. I turned to my friends. "What do you guys think?"

"I think we should do it." Aria was quick to answer like always and bit the bullet before I could. "I want to train more and get stronger so I'll be able to take down that gym leader and help out more when we battle Team Aqua and Team Magma again." Aria looked down. "I mostly have grass and steel types on my team, I'm going to be at a huge disadvantage at the next gym. It's a fire one…"

"I think all of us could use the training, and you could use the solitude to help yourself out, Jez." Casey was the next to speak up. "It would do us all good in our opinion, and the region is in safe hands with _two_ champions and the IPHP League."

"I-I'm sorry J-jezebel… but I-I have to a-agree with Aria a-and Casey…" Mattie shocked us all by voting with them as well. "I-I want to b-become stronger, a-and some training would d-do us all g-good…"

I sighed. "I guess I'm out voted on this one." I cracked the side of my neck and felt the adrenaline start to pump in my veins. I grabbed my drink and chugged it. "After lunch, we'll head out and get stocked to leave right after."

"Whoa whoa! What's the rush Jez?" Casey spat out his drink in surprise and quickly questioned me.

I could only smirk at him and the others while I leaned my head against my hand. "Because if we're gonna train for a solid month, I'm gonna make the three of you work every second of it. We're not wasting that much time if you want to get stronger."

Violet only smiled at us and patted my hand on the table. "Good luck."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Once lunch was done that day, the four of us quickly set out and we began out month long training inside the mountain of Meteor Falls. Our training was crazy; we worked at all hours of the day except for our small breaks and meal times. By using the clocks on our pokenavs, we would be on the schedule of working from eight in the morning to ten at night. We worked for roughly twelve hours in the day, each of us facing the wild pokemon in the area or each other. We tried to use as many different moves as we could to startle our opponents and help in the favor of our victory.

All of us would be worn and tired by the end of the day. Mattie would be the first one normally to clock out. With his disabilities, we didn't want to push him too far beyond his limit and hurt him where he wouldn't be able to battle. He would take longer breaks the rest of us, but Mattie put up an incredible fight with his pokemon. Luna has still never lost to any of us, and to my shock and horror, that damn feline evolved with the help of a moon stone in the mountain. She became a Delcatty, and now purple decorated around the top of her head and covered her long ears. Her face was still tan, as well as her body, you could see the color of her eyes now, which were an onyx color and she had a decorative purple collar around her neck, one that had fluffy looking purple balls hanging off of it. Her tail had shrunken a bit in size, it was now a small fluffy tuff of purple fur, but don't underestimate it. That tail swings harder than the old one did. That damn feline is still such a pain…

_Delcatty, the prim pokemon and the evolved form of skitty with a moon stone. The favorite of trend-conscious female trainers, they are used in competition due to their style and fur. Rather than keeping a permanent lair, it habitually seeks comfortable spots and sleeps there. It is nocturnal and becomes active at dusk. There are no known delcatty nests in the region. _

Guardian also evolved, and Blade seemed to take a liking to this new form she had. She looked like an elegant woman with short green hair that curved around her face and bright red eyes out of which she glanced. A red piece of smoothed material was sticking out of her chest and it looked like she was wearing a white dress around her.

_Gardevoir, the embrace pokemon and the evolved form of kirlia. It apparently does not feel the pull of gravity because it supports itself with psychic power. It will give its life to protect its trainer. It has the power to predict the future. Its power peaks when it is protecting its trainer. There are no known gardevoir nests in the region. _

Another pokemon that had to evolve were two of Casey's and three of Aria's. Casey's first pokemon was his marshtomp, which evolved into a powerful water and ground type that Blaze has had extreme difficulty with. It tripled in size and was now way over our heads and had a dark blue body with a lighter blue underbelly. A large midnight blue tail was attached and two thick fins sticking out of the top of its head were of the same color. Its body was large while its arms were long and almost lanky looking compared to its body and legs. Its head was wide and he had large orange eyes and huge jaws with the orange skin sticking out of its body on its cheeks and some small patches on its arm that were thicker and flat.

_Swampert, the mudfish pokemon and the evolved form of marshtomp. If it senses the approach of a storm and a tidal wave, it protects its seaside nest by piling up boulders. It swims as fast as a jet ski. Its arms are rock-hard. With one swing, they can batter down its foe. It makes its nest on beautiful beaches. There are no known swampert nests in the area. _

His other pokemon that evolved was his lombre. Once it was in its final evolution (all thanks to finding a water stone in the mountain) it became much larger in size and the coloring of its tan and light brown hair on its body reminded me of a zig-zag pattern on a maraca. It almost looked like the lily pad on top of its head looked like a sombrero and its mouth was huge. It was always laughing and running around with its mouth open and singing or laughing. Its arms and legs were stubby-like, but usable. It had fingers, but seemed to work easier with just the thumb and keeping the fingers together.

_Ludicolo, the carefree pokemon and the evolved form of lombre with a water stone. When it hears festive music, all the cells in its body become stimulated, and it begins moving in rhythm. It does not quail when it faces a tough opponent. When its cells are active, it becomes more powerful. There are no known ludicolo in the region. _

Then there was Aria's team. She trained them non-stop to get them all to evolve and get stronger. The first of them was her grovyle, it had evolved into a large green Pokemon. Its arms were narrow, but lanky and long with claws on the end of them and two sharp looking leaves that stuck out almost a foot off its wrist. It had thick, powerful legs for high jumping and a thick, leaf filled tail growing out of its lower back. On its upper back was a set of yellow looking balls and there was a red stripe that went across its lower frontal abdomen and on its jawline. Its eyes were yellow and its mouth looked like it could swallow twenty large berries at once.

_Sceptile, the forest pokemon and the evolved form of grovyle. In the jungle, its power is without equal. This pokemon carefully grows trees and plants. It regulates its body temperature by basking in sunlight. The leaves on its forelegs are as sharp as swords. Its agilely leap about the branches of trees to strike. There are no known sceptile nests in the region._

The second of Aria's pokemon to evolve was her shy little whismur. After its evolution, its personality changed entirely and it got active and _loud_. With the speakers it now had for ears, over its large purple body and massive mouth that was nearly as big as its body, it would wake us up early every morning for training. It also threw a good punch with its thickly muscled arms and legs.

_Loudred, the big voice pokemon and the evolved form of whismur. It positions the round speakers on its head to assail foes with ultrasonic waves at massive volume. It builds power by stomping the ground. When it stamps its feet and bellows, it generates ultrasonic waves that can blow a house apart. There are extremely few places to find loudred. They tend to make their nests in the desert underpass or the Victory Road of this region. _

The last of Aria's pokemon to evolve was her aron. It was large enough now in size to where she could ride it. It came up to almost her chest in height and its armor become much thicker as its body also became longer. It was a good five to six feet long with visible smoothed out spikes on its back and a thickly armored head, blocky legs and a heavy-looking tail. Bright blue eyes looked back at us.

_Lairon, the iron armor pokemon and the evolved form of aron. When two lairon meet in the wild, the fight for territory by bashing into each other with their steel bodies. As a result, the pokemon often clashes with humans mining iron ore. It habitually shows off its strength with the size of the sparks it creates by ramming its steel body into boulders. This pokemon is uncommon and tends to live only in the victory road. _

To top it all off for the woman, she managed to catch herself a new pokemon. It was a bagon, a small dragon type pokemon that was no more than a foot tall and grayish blue in color with a grey bone like material protecting its head. Its eyes were small, but black, and it could walk on two legs. Its jaws were massive for the size of its body and it had sharp teeth that it used to bite down on rocks for cleaning. I think Casey nearly shit himself when he saw the chunks that pokemon pulled out of rocks…

_Bagon, the rock head pokemon. Its steel-hard head can shatter boulders. It longingly hopes for wings to grow so it can fly. Although it is small, this pokemon is very powerful because its body is a bundle of muscles. Bagon nests are highly uncommon and tend to only be found in the depths of Meteor Falls. _

Christmas was now only about three weeks away. We had that much time to be able to make it out of there and battle Flannery over at the Lavaridge gym before going back for the holidays. I could battle my Dad any time I wanted, since I'll be heading back with him, and it made sense to get it out of the way, plus, I always wanted to have a battle with him.

We stopped over at the pokemon center for a good breakfast before we plowed right back through the last three routes and Mt. Chimney before we went down the mountain on the lift to get to Lavaridge. Like I had remembered the town, it was in the meeting of a forest and a mountain, we had hot springs all around, and relaxing in one once we got done had especially come to mind to help loosen and relax some muscles.

It was the first place I was stopping when I got done with my gym battle.

Lunch was the first agenda after we got into the town. We ate entirely to our heart's content, but then it came down to who would battle the gym leader first. Aria and Casey quickly broke out into a fight over which one of them would and I couldn't help but silently laugh. I quickly returned all my pokemon and tapped on Mattie's shoulder. I motioned for him to follow me while the other two fought and we slipped out of the door without them knowing and rushed over to the gym the second we got outside. I don't even think they noticed a thing…

The next thing we knew, Mattie and I were over at the gym. I could see the steam coming out of the front door from it; it had to be a warm place in there. Regardless of that, I already knew which Pokémon I'd be using in battle against the fire type gym leader. It was an easy choice to make. Acey was a ground type. She had an advantage over fire types. Not to mention she also has the dragon type on her, which made her extremely powerful and durable. Mattie told me he'd probably be using Luna, and if he needed to, Guardian after her. He wanted to avoid using Kaida since she was still a bit young yet and Roza because she was a grass type, clearly unfit to fight here.

I walked inside the gym and stepped onto a field that had hot water flowing down over the walls on all sides, which must have been what the steam was coming from. The rocks beneath our feet also felt warm, I could just barely feel it through my shoes. I placed my hand down on the rock and noticed how warm it was, pretty warm, but not enough to burn.

"Hello, dear trainers, welcome to… ugg! I got it wrong again!" I blinked my eyes and looked up and across the field. A young female of late teens was standing there, probably about the same age as Violet and the others. She was dress in long vibrant light blue jeans and a black short sleeved shirt that showed off her lower chest area. I saw the female cursing at herself and stomped on her foot.

"Um… are you Flannery?" The girl looked up at us before she groaned and fell to the floor.

"Yeah… but my intro to you guys coming in was supposed to be cooler than that…" She sighed and looked over at her feet with a pout. "My grandfather was cool like that…"

"So you're essentially trying to act like your grandfather?" I raised my eyebrow at the woman before I sighed. "Why?"

"Because… gym leaders are supposed to act cool…" She hesitated as she told me her answer to that question.

I shook my head. "Really?" I groaned and hit my head with my hand. "Look, listen up." The girl raised her head to look at me. I pointed at my chest with a thumb that felt like it jabbed me. "I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain. I hereby challenge you to a gym match for my fourth gym badge." I paused for a moment to let it sink in. "Not everyone is 'amazing' at intros, and why does that even matter? When I met up with Roxanne to have my first gym battle, she was reading a fricken book! Didn't even notice I was there until she heard my pokedex going off when I was looking up information on her pokemon!"

I heavily breathed for a moment after I got that small bit of frustration out and sighed before I looked at her again. Her eyes were wide as she looked at me in awe.

"Wow… you're amazing…" She grinned. "So cool… wait, did you say your name was Emery-Twain? Like Norman's daughter?"

"Yep." I sighed and lowered my head. "So… are you gonna be yourself so I can have a battle? Cuz if you need some time to collect yourself or something... I guess we can come back la-"

"No, I'm okay." She cut me off and stood back up and took a stand in her trainer box. "I'm sorry for the way I acted and how you had to deal with me, so let's have a good battle. My name is Flannery and I'm the gym leader here in Lavaridge Town." She rubbed the back of her head somewhat nervously. "I may be new to this gym leader position, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to hand over my badge! It's a three on three match. You ready?"

"Extremely." I pulled out my first (and hopefully only) pokeball. "Let's go, Acey!"

She emerged from her pokeball with a little glimmer to go around from her shiny form. Flannery gasped at her before pulling out her own pokemon.

"Looks like you came prepared for my fire types!" She laughed; it was good to see her finally relaxed so we could have a proper battle. I would have never faced her if she was in the state she was in before I helped her fix her thoughts. She pulled out a pokeball of her own and threw it out. "Let's go, slugma!"

The lava slug pokemon quickly appeared. It gave off a goofy grin at us before it spat out a patch of molten lava from its belly that landed before Acey. She didn't flinch as the lava landed a foot from her and melted the ground easily, creating an uneven hole before us.

"Now don't get too impatient, Slugma," Flannery shook her head. "Sorry about him. He gets to be a little out of control at times."

I brushed it off with a wave of my hand. "Don't worry about it; now do I get first move or do you?"

"Oh, right!" She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "First move to the challenger."

"Works for me." Acey glanced back at me and I grinned. "Acey, start out with dig."

"Vib!" Acey quickly dug at the surface of the ground and was submerged in dirt in seconds before he disappeared. Flannery looked taken aback. She must have very recently become the gym leader to not know how to deal with types that had an advantage over hers.

"Uh… uh. Slugma! Hurry toward the hole!" I blinked in surprise as she ordered her slugma to advance toward the hole in the ground where Acey had first vanished. It caused me to unconsciously raise an eyebrow, but I shrugged it off and turned back to the field where Acey was.

"Get 'em!" Acey shot up like a rocket out of the ground and slammed into the slugma head on. "Now down!" As soon as the slugma's body no longer was in contact with Acey's, she dived once again for the ground and made another hole. I saw Flannery hissing at the annoyingness of my pokemon and I laughed at her. "Having any problems?"

She didn't say a word while she looked out of the field. I could only snicker as her frustrations slightly began to take over. She looked so enraged as she watched her slugma still trying to make its way to the first hole Acey had made, but why bother now? Acey was in another hole.

"Slugma! Stop!" The lava slug pokemon stopped and I had to blink at the gym leader.

What was she up to?

"Use overheat!" The entire body of the slugma's became encased in a glowing red light and I could feel the heat of its attack from across the field. My eyes widened as I saw it was more powerful than I thought. My playing around her pokemon was over as I looked out for any sign of Acey, there was none. The attack exploded off the slugma and fire and lava dispersed to all holes on the field. I gasped.

"Acey!" I cried out and hoped my words reached her. "Emerge!"

"Vib!" She suddenly appeared just by my side and I jumped backwards while she dived away from her hole before fire shot out of it and hit the ceiling above. Four geysers of fire and lava were shooting up and all around the gym, burning holes in the building and giving the already hot gym a red glow to go with the mist that hung in the air from the hot springs water that flowed over the walls.

"Not quite what you were expecting, right Jezebel?" I hissed as I looked back to Flannery, she grinned at my small misery over what just took place.

I snorted. "That doesn't mean that I can't get back at you!" I pursed my lips. "Now Acey, use dragon breath!" Acey's attack flew right down the line and hit the slugma in the face. It cried out and was thrown back for the force of the attack before it fell and crashed into one of the walls of hot water. Flannery gasped and rushed over to her pokemon that she saw scream when its body hit the water and lava mixture. Flannery quickly pulled out her pokeball and it sucked her pokemon back inside while she seemed to be having a mini heart attack of her own on the other side of the field.

"Sorry!" I called out to her. "Is your slugma okay?"

"I think so." She released it back out before her, away from the water, and petted its head. "But he's out, I'm not sure if it was the water or your attack that finished him off." She returned the pokemon back into its pokeball before pulling out another. "But regardless of which did, it's a point in your favor, so here comes my next Pokemon. Go Camerupt!"

Her second pokemon came and it was the same large one that my aunt had on her when I battled her at the top of Mt. Chimney. It burned my insides to see that pokemon, just because of how much it reminded me of her- how she's betrayed my family, just like my uncles and cousins and her sister. But I had to hold it in. All my rage shouldn't be held toward this specific species of Pokemon. It was unfair and unjust. This was an innocent pokemon that had nothing to do with my family problems. Just a gym leader's pokemon trying to keep me from getting their badge…

_Speaking of which, I had to get my mind back on track._ I looked back over at the other side of the field and my eyes met Flannery's. She noticed the anger in my eyes, but made no move against it while I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. I opened them then again when I heard the buzzing of Acey's wings, ready and raring to go.

"Hit it head on Acey! Use sandstorm to confuse it and then dig!"

**Third Person Point of View:**

On the other side of the town, far away from Jezebel's battle in the Lavaridge gym with Flannery, Casey Birch and Aria Charolette were still arguing over who would be the first to battle the gym leader, not even noticing when their pokemon had popped out of their pokeballs and tried to let them know. But nothing they tried worked; even when hitting them, the two trainers just yelled back for them to stay out of it and they'd have their argument finished soon.

That was almost half an hour to an hour ago.

The only thing that the two of them had agreed on was that Jezebel was to go first, and after that it was whoever was to win this argument. Mattie was not saying anything, so they assumed that he would just wait to go last. The two were ready to throw punches if it wasn't for their pokemon holding them back every time they tried.

"I seriously have no idea why I even bother to travel with you! You're such a pain in the ass! You know that Birch?" Aria yelled out over him and glared with a vein seeming to pop on her forehead.

"Like your one to talk Miss Bitchy!" Casey snapped right back at her. "And how is this helping in your argument to go after Jezebel? You have no reasons to back up why you should! I should because I was her first friend!"

Aria's jaw dropped and a purple haze clouded her figure as the vein on her head was growing ever closer to rupturing. "You're seriously bringing that into this? How does that even amount to anything? I've spent more time with her than you have!"

"But I knew her first! I trained with her and taught her the ropes of battling." Casey smirked. "She knows all she does and was able to expand on it because of me!"

"Hardly!" Aria huffed and turned away from him, swinging on her heels. "Jezebel would have figured it out eventually. She _is_ the daughter of a gym leader you know. She's not about to fail to some halfwit like yourself." She grinned and showed him an evil glint that was in her eyes that matched the grin she wore. "I bet that's why you've never been able to beat her, because you're a halfwit."

"Oh really? And what's your excuse for not battling her huh? Both Mattie and I have both battled her in the past, but why haven't you yet? You scared you're going to lose to her, but you know you can win against us and gym leaders and other trainers?" Casey snorted and crossed his arms. "Who's the halfwit now?"

Aria suddenly growled at him and the vein on her head finally reached its critical point. It snapped from the amount of pressure running through it and Casey was left to fend off from a pissed off Aria that stood before him. Her fists were shaking in rage before her legs bent themselves and she took off into the air and leapt at Casey. He held up his arms in defense as her body came slamming down on his and she started to claw at him with her nails and pound his head with her fists. The entire time she sounded no longer like a human, but an untamed wild pokemon that had been caged and beaten, then released on her master to devour him.

Casey suddenly got a leg in between the two of them and kicked her off of him before jumping to his feet and be ready for the next attack. Aria hit the back wall and pushed herself off of it before racing at Casey with a fist at the ready to hit him.

"Wait!" Casey had suddenly noticed something was off at the last second and call it out as Aria had shot herself at him with her fist only halting a few millimeters from his face. "Where's Jez and Mattie?"

The sudden question surprised Aria, and normally she wouldn't let such a question bother her and she'd finish pummeling him. But this was a question about Jez, and she wasn't there…

"_What?_" The girl screeched and pulled back her fist as she looked around for her best female friend, but was unable to find her. The small green haired boy that she also had a great concern for was also not there. The two seemingly vanished. "Where are they?"

"Sceptile." She whipped her head around to look at her grass type calmly throw out the answer she was looking for, but not in a tone or manner that she would have liked. Even Aria couldn't cure all the bad behaviors of her pokemon. She ignored his behavior and returned all of her pokemon before rushing out the door and hurrying off to the gym. A shouting Casey was quickly rushing behind her with his own three pokeballs in hand.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

The camerupt swayed on its feet as it took another hit from my pokemon. We'd come up with a simple strategy to knock it out without it hurting us. With the combination of sandstorm and dig, it was like we were hiding in plain sight. Or it felt like it, I guess. I didn't care though, so long as I was winning the battle and getting stronger, and I feel like Flannery was making me. She was an incredible battler. Her power was amazing, but she was lacking in fire types that had speed, and that's where I made my debut. Acey was all about speed and accuracy when it came to her opponents. She was quick as a trapinch; she was even faster as a vibrava.

"Take it out! Crunch!" Acey slipped forward through the thick sandstorm that covered the field and through the dust I heard the camerupt cry out in pain before I heard a body slam onto the ground. Acey then appeared back at my side and let her wings settled next to her body while the sands settled down in the air. Flannery was shocked as she watched her second pokemon fall to the ground and mine seemed to be still somewhat fine.

I had to admit that the camerupt had sent out quite a few fire attacks, all of which missed, but I had to give the girl points; from the fire, she heated up the sand around Acey that she used in the sandstorm, and she used it to have burning hot sands hit Acey's flesh. Now normally this wouldn't bother her- she was raised in the hot, humid desert after all- but that sand was even hotter than normal. The fire almost took it to extreme levels which started to burn parts of Acey's skin. I was lucky she was a dragon and ground type or else that might have really hurt her.

Flannery was now down to her last pokemon, and while I bet she wasn't liking the fact that she was most likely going to lose to me, she seemed to be having fun. She wore a wide grin on her face even as she had been pushed into a corner and a hard spot by me and my pokemon.

"Wow, you are a really good trainer like Wattson said you'd be!" Flannery grinned as she pulled out a third pokeball after returning her camerupt. "But now it's time for the final battle! Let's go Torkoal!"

I blinked at the strange new pokemon that came out of the pokeball. It was on four legs and was colored a rust orange red and had a long neck that led to an oval head. Its eyes looked to stay closed for the most part and on its back was a hard shell that reminded me of live coals. It was almost black in color, being a very dark grey, and had patches where it looked like the coals were live. I pulled out my pokedex because this looked like a tough one to beat.

_Torkoal, the coal pokemon. It battles using energy it gets from burning coal. When loosing smoke from its nostrils, it lets off a sound that is similar to a locomotive's horn. It burns coal inside its shell. If it is attacked, it belches thick, black smoke and flees. Torkoal nests are uncommon in this region and tend to be found only on the Fiery Path inside the lower levels of Mt. Chimney. _

_Black smoke… this could turn out ugly for me very quickly if I'm not careful._

"Let's go then Torkoal! Start out with smokescreen!" I was caught off guard while I was in my thoughts and she called out her attack. The battlefield was quickly covered in a thick black smoke and I desperately looked around for Acey and noticed she thankfully was by a hole, because I had a sinking feeling I knew the combination that Flannery was going to use, a favorite move of Champion Gwyn Jalen herself…

"Now use fire spin!" Torkoal's fire caught the burnable smoke in the air and suddenly ignited before exploding.

"Acey! Dive!" She barely had enough time to escape to her tunnel before the explosion came to her above. I had to dive myself from the attack so it wouldn't hit me.

"Oh no! Are you all right Jezebel?" Flannery called to my side of the field and I slowly got up with no feelings of pain.

"I'm fine!" I turned my head around to Mattie, who was missing from where he stood behind me in the corner. "Mattie? Are you okay?"

I heard coughing as he sat up from behind a piece of stray black smoke before him. He quickly sat up and nodded his head to me. I questioned him with a bit of a longer gaze, but he waved me off.

"I-I'm okay Jezebel… get b-back to y-your battle…" A sigh lightly escaped my lips, but I nodded to him and turned back to my battle.

"Let's continue, Flannery!" I glanced over at the hole. "Let's go, Acey!" She quickly emerged from the hole and flew her way out before me. Flannery seemed shocked that there was no damage on my pokemon and I used that to my advantage like she did to me only a short while ago.

"Now Acey! Sandstorm!" The entire room suddenly was filled with the sound of Acey's wings buzzing as she kicked up the dirt and sent it flying to reduce the visibility.

I barely heard Flannery cry out on the other side of the field as she could no longer see, or most likely not see. her pokemon. "Torkoal!"

"Not this time!" I threw my arm forward, pointing at the storm. "Now Acey! Dragon breath!" Through the heavy dirt and dust that was thrown in the air, Acey let loose an attack that was easily caught up in the winds. Using the same tactic that Flannery had used before with her fire, the attack was taken up by the sandstorm and absorbed it before firing it back at the opponent. The dragon breath entirely took over the storm and crafted it to be a vortex of black, red and purple. I could hear the cries of the opposing pokemon as the vortex spun around it and the sand that was infused with the attack brushed along the surface of its skin every second.

I suddenly heard a crash in the middle of the vortex and told Acey then to stop her attack. The dragon power infused sandstorm disintegrated and vanished before we were left with a torkoal that was left upon the ground, its eyes in swirls.

"Yes!" I pumped my fist and ran out to Acey. "We won!"

"Vib!" She jumped into the air and swirled around me on her wings before she landed herself at my chest and knocked me over from the force of the impact. "Whoa!"

"Jezebel!" Mattie was quick to run out to me and help me up. "Y-you and Acey w-were amazing!" I couldn't help but grin madly at the boy in my excitement and jumped into his arms, throwing my own around his neck.

"I know! I feel like I've gotten even stronger now!" I pulled back to see the boy blushing like mad. His entire face was beet red and, against his vibrant green hair, I couldn't help but laugh at the contrast.

"Wow… that was an incredible battle!" Flannery returned her pokemon and walked to me on the other side of the gym. "I can't believe I had such an overwhelming battle with you. It shows me that I have so much more to learn not only as a gym leader, but as a person as well." She winked at Mattie and me. "And I plan to go into some heavy training once I battle your cutie of a friend, since I'm assuming he wants battle too."

"Y-yes ma'am!" Mattie flushed even redder, almost turning purple. I held onto him to make sure he didn't fall.

"Don't faint on me Mattie, you still have your own match to win!" I couldn't help but laugh and it seemed to make the redness in his face only get worse.

"She's right, but first," Flannery pulled out a gym badge from her pokemon. It was mostly red in color, looking like a wisp of fire that was attached to a yellow round center. "Here's your fourth gym badge for you Jezebel, the heat badge."

I took the metal piece into my hands and grinned at it before I pulled out my case and added it with the others. "Yes! Halfway there!"

"And now… I need to g-get my gym badge." Mattie was starting to shift into that determined trainer and I calmed myself enough to smile at him.

"Right. Good luck Mattie. I'll cheer for you from the side lines-"

"FINALLY! WE DAMN WELL FUCKING FOUND YOU!" I turned my head around to see Aria and Casey practically bash their way through Flannery's front door. The two of them looked pissed, but more at each other (like always) then us.

"It wouldn't have taken us so long if you'd spend your time doing something other than arguing with me!" Casey snapped at the female that had stormed in with him.

"Like you're one to talk? Who kept me going for almost half an hour?"

"That's just because you have a big mouth and can't shut it!"

I sighed and turned back to Flannery. "You may want to go heal up your pokemon and get ready for your match with Mattie, and then those two after you." I sighed and patted Mattie on the back. "Do your best to tune them out."

**Witch's Note:**

**Yeppie! Another long chapter done and that can finally get through that chapter! So who's ready for some more family drama? I know I am? How about Christmas with Jez's family? And a gym battle with Daddy? All of this will be coming soon in chapter fifteen!**

**So as always, please Review and send in any Questions! **

**I love you guys and I'll see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	15. A Family Battle

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 15: A Family Battle_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After dealing with the… complications of Casey and Aria, all three of my friends had their battles with Flannery to earn their fourth badge. Mattie won easily enough; he only had to use that damn feline pokemon of his to take out Flannery's pokemon. Casey and Aria, though, were a different story. Casey took out his water type starter, who normally would have no problem, but in the end it fell to Flannery's torkoal and he had to bring out Ludicolo, who also almost didn't win due to being half grass type. Aria was the worst of us. She almost lost entirely. Like Casey, Loudred lasted until she met up with Torkoal, but she almost lost both of her heavy hitters to the fire type very quickly. Metang was taken out almost instantly due to being a steel type, and it was only thanks to Sceptile that Aria won; his speed is what saved her.

Once we all got our badges, we decided that it would be a good idea to start heading home for the holidays. My father would've been eagerly awaiting my return to spend the days before Christmas with him before our family would join us. While I really didn't want to see any of them, I had no choice if I wanted to keep this secret away from my father, and also keep my family from knowing that I was the girl that they faced that ruined the ideals and operations of Team Magma and Team Aqua.

Mattie planned to follow me back to Petalburg. He wanted to spend the holidays with his folks, even if his father may yell at him for what he's done, just for being unsafe, because Mattie always was a sheltered child before he met me. Aria planned to head back to Rustboro and spend the holidays with her brothers and visit her mother's grave in the small cemetery on the edge of the city. She was excited to tell her father and twin older brothers what she'd done and how much she'd accomplished since she last saw them. Casey planned to follow me and Mattie to Petalburg before continuing on and heading back to Littleroot. His mother, father and sister were all awaiting his return for the holidays, not to mention his father was eager to see how much we'd obtained in our pokedexes and how much we learned. From all four of us together, we put together a lot of information. We transferred all the information we had to each other's pokedexes and Casey would be giving his to his father to look over as his early Christmas gift from us to him.

So the day after our battles with Flannery, we set off back through the mountainside and headed north, back to the mountains, to get back to Rustboro. We stopped there long enough to meet Aria's family and stay the night with them before taking the journey back south to Petalburg. Once again, we stopped over at my dad's house, and the day after the night we spent there, Casey headed back to Littleroot while Mattie walked down the street to see his family.

My father had been so happy to hear that I'd be spending time with him that he'd flipped when I got back; he was also thrilled about the glass table and chairs I'd made for him. It filled up the large open concept dining room and kitchen and looked beautiful. My father even pulled out some of his old grandmother's crystal to eat with that night since he wanted us to have a proper meal on it with proper dishes to go with the beauty of the table. We spent the rest of that night enjoying the comfort of each other and watching old Christmas specials on the TV.

Come the next day, I was thrilled to be home and in an environment that made me feel safe and loved. It made me eager for another battle (I'm not exactly sure how, so please don't ask), and I knew just how to handle that kind of thirst.

"Dad!" I hurried down the stairs and flew past most of the hallways and rooms to find him in the kitchen making breakfast for the two of us before he would open up the gym for trainers to battle him.

"Hey, honey! I'm in here!" He grinned as he gave me a glance at the pan he was cooking on. Pancakes. "Look good?"

"They smell even better than they look!" I grabbed the syrup and silverware before putting them all on the small island we had in the kitchen to save our glass table for Christmas and to make it feel like we were closer together when we ate. "So what time are you opening up? Same time as usual?"

"Just about. I was hoping maybe a little later since I want to start getting the things down for us to decorate that Christmas tree. I got it sitting in the stand already and thought we could do it together." He looked back at me. "Are you okay with that?"

"Of course." I smirked at him. "Did you really need to ask?"

He chuckled. "I guess not."

"Say, Dad?" I asked him after a few moments of silence passed as he cooked the pancakes.

"What is it, Jez?" He turned around to look at me. He turned the heat on the burner to low so the pancakes wouldn't burn while he talked to me. He had a serious vibe to him. I bet I did too.

"Well… I happen to know that there's a gym leader and a trainer staying in this house and that trainer wants to battle that gym leader for her fifth badge…"

"Well, now!" My father grinned as he gave me a thumbs up. "I guess that gym leader is gonna have to battle that trainer, then."

I couldn't help but laugh at the goofy way my father was acting. "Thanks Dad."

He walked over and leaned over the counter to kiss my forehead. "No thanks necessary, honey. Now what kind of battle did you want to have?"

I snorted. "Dad! It's your gym!"

"Oh… right…" He nervously rubbed the back of his head. Suddenly an idea came to him and he gasped. "Hey! Why don't we do this?" He turned the burner off and started putting pancakes on the dishes that were next to him. "Let's have a double battle, three on three. I wanna see how strong my little girl's gotten since she left home."

"Hey, whatever you want, Dad. Now, just no holding back on me, even if I am your daughter, okay?"

He ruffled the top of my head. "Loud and clear, Jez. It wouldn't be any fun if I went easy on you anyway." He softened the look in his eyes for a moment before he set the pan in the sink to cool down so I could wash it later. "I want to see how much stronger you are since you left me a few months back, and I want to have a real battle with my daughter."

"Well let's have breakfast so we can, then, Dad." I grabbed my dish and he did the same. "Let's eat!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Once breakfast was over, my father and I made our way over to the gym attached to our home. It was a simple gym, with only a wooden border around the battlefield on the ground. I stood in my box on one side and my father stood on the other. If any other trainers would arrive, they would wait in the sitting area behind me and come through the doors, but first… and what mattered right now… our match.

"All right Dad, I hope you're ready for me!" All my pokemon were behind me, ready to watch the fight. Even Slacker had come down from my room to watch us, and I was shocked to see that he'd evolved into a vigoroth since I'd been gone. He cheered with the rest of my pokemon behind me. Dad's were also standing behind him, waiting to be called out to fight.

"I'm ready honey, are you?" He snickered. "All right. Spinda, Linoone, you two are first!" The two pokemon rushed their way out onto the field. As soon as I saw the pair, I quickly set down my flute case with the higher pitched end ready. Spinda had a nasty habit of confusing their opponents, and I've seen my father do it many times in the past.

"Okay then! Blaze! Blade! You two are fighting!" Both of my fighting types jumped over my head and practically danced in their places as they were ready to move, they were inching to battle, I could see it in their stances. I didn't need to look at their eager facial expressions to know that.

"Shall we begin then Jez?" My father gestured to me. "First move to the challenger."

"I hope you're ready for us then!" I grinned at him. "Blaze, use dynamic punch on Spinda! Blade, use drain punch on Linoone!"

My pokemon leapt forward into the air with their fists glowing in white energy. Blaze came after Spinda with an incredible speed and punched it right in the gut before sending it flying back. Blade, on the other hand, vanished with his abilities and landed himself right behind the Linoone before it twisted itself around before Blade punched it in the face. Linoone was thrown back into the wall while its energy was visibly leaving its body and going to Blade. The two of them both grinned as they waited on other orders, and to see their opponents fight back.

"Linoone! Spinda!" My father looked back worriedly at them. "Come on, you two, the battle's just begun!" He clenched his fist. "Spinda, use teeter dance, and Linoone, you use façade!"

Both of the pokemon leapt out of the wall and Spinda was the first to take center stage. It began to dance in a strange way and Blade was quick to cover his eyes from the pokemon, but Blaze was not so quick. His eyes became swirls of confusion and he started to dance the same way.

_I'm glad I have these then!_ I quickly snatched up my yellow and grass green glass flute from my flute case and brought it to my lips. Before I could play a note, Linoone descended on Blade with his eyes still covered. I pulled the piece away from my mouth just in time to call a single order. "Teleport!"

Blade vanished in the next second. Even my father's spinda stopped its dance and left Blaze as he was while the two of them looked for my pokemon. The two of them looked around worriedly for my pokemon before Linoone finally looked up to check and see if he was on the ceiling. He grinned at her from up there.

"Psycho cut!" Blade shoved his body off the ceiling with the help of his powerful legs pushing off the wood. His arms started to move at an incredible speed as his sword like arms glowed and made a cage of energy around him before he slammed himself into Linoone. It cried out and was crushed into the ground. Its eyes became swirls and it lay there motionless.

"Linoone!" my father called out to his pokemon.

"And now for the other one!" I quickly brought the flute up to my lips and let loose a note. It didn't matter which one it was- only that the sound reached Blaze's ears. I saw him stop dancing and he glanced around before looking back at me. I grinned at him. "Blaze! Sky uppercut on Spinda!"

"Blaze!" My blaziken rushed forward with his first covered in a white light.

"No! Spinda! Use teeter dance!" My father called out a quick order to Spinda who desperately jumped out of the way of Blaze's attack and danced to confuse him. Blaze's eyes were closed this time. My father and his pokemon hissed out in worry.

"Again Blaze! Sky uppercut!" Blaze jumped forward to where Spinda was and landed before it. His eyes opened wide to see his target cowering in fear before he let loose his fist which caught the small pokemon under the jaw. Spinda hit the ceiling before coming back down and crashing on top of Linoone. The two of them were both knocked out for the count.

"Yes!" I grinned and turned back to me two head fighters. "Nice job, you guys!" Both Blaze and Blade pumped their fists into the air before they turned back to my father. He had only one pokemon left, and I knew this one was going to be a powerhouse.

"You have gotten stronger, Jez; you have no idea how happy this makes me." My father smiled at me with tears already starting to pour from his eyes. "But I still have to do my best as a gym leader to beat you!" He pulled out his two pokeballs and returned his two fallen pokemon before pulling out a third and final one. "Let's get them, Slaking! Show them all you've got!"

It was then that she was revealed. Slaking, the most powerful of my father's pokemon. The one that had taken care of me in the past and that raised and looked after me in times that really mattered. Now it was nothing like that. I was on my own and having fun for the first time in my life, and we were pitted against each other. This would be an interesting battle. Slaking always was so soft and gentle with me, but I knew she could rough up and knock out any opponent.

"Let's see how you fare against my boys, Slaking!" I grinned and threw my hand out before me. "Blade, use leaf blade, and Blaze, use double kick!"

Both of my pokemon took off toward the other side of the gym where Slaking stood. She watched as the two of them approached before she put one of her bulky arms before her and roared.

"Now Slaking! Knock them back and then use mega punch on both of them!" My father grinned as Slaking let out another roar that crushed my ear drums and I swayed back from the sound. I looked through my cracked open eye lids and gasped when I saw her large fist coming toward my pokemon.

"Look out!" My screech didn't reach them in time as her fist came colliding with both their bodies and threw them into the wall just past me. I jumped out of the ring to hurry over to them. "Blade! Blaze!"

"Blaze…" I gasped when I saw the first of them stand up out of the spot where they were before pulling up Blade. "Blaziken blaze…"

"Gall…" With the help of Blaze, Blade stood to his feet and the both of them stepped back into the battlefield.

_Beating Slatking was going to be the cream of the crop for us in getting stronger._ I let out a shaky sigh and tried to calm my heart from beating out of control. I stepped back into my trainer box, but I couldn't help but feel like I needed to do something. _I gotta figure out some plan to help them! If I don't… another hit or so like that will not only take them out, but possibly kill them! And Blaze and Blade don't know how to give up! They keep fighting…!_

"Jez… are you alright Honey?" My father's voice I could hear from the other side of the field, but I ignored it as I thought.

_This is just the beginning. This is the smallest amount of power my team and I have to have if we even want to come close to taking my uncles' organizations down, and become the strongest trainer._ I looked up to face my worried-looking father. _I need to beat him; he's only the first of the second half of the strongest trainers I had to face before I could even face the Pokѐmon League in Ever Grande City. If I can't beat my father, then why continue on?_

"Jezebel?" My father tried to call to me again.

I sighed once more and finally gave a glance to my father. His eyes shifted and I saw the nervousness in them when our eyes met.

"Sorry about that, Dad. I got a little stuck in my head." I nodded to myself and clenched my fist. "Don't go easy on me; you promised."

"But Jez…" I could feel his uneasiness from the other side of the battlefield. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, Dad; now let's get back to this!" I looked to my pokemon who were glancing back at me. "Blaze! Blade! You two ready?"

"Blaziken!" Blaze snorted fire out through his nose.

"Gallade!" Blade shifted his arms around so that they caught the light as he bared his weapon at his opponent.

"Good! Now let's get her! Blaze, use double kick! Blade, use focus punch!" Both of my pokemon took off with their speedy legs carrying them around the room to keep them away from Slaking's arms as she swung them around to try and hit the two of them again. Suddenly, Blaze jumped before Slaking and awaited her attack as she pulled back her arm and aimed to swing. Blade suddenly came around on her side and hooked her in the jaw with his attack. She stumbled from the impact and was off balance as he landed on the other side of her, quickly up and ready for the next attack. Blaze then took that moment to jump into the air and kick her twice in her snout and forced her to fall back on the ground.

"Slaking!" my father called out. "Get up and use counter!" Slaking's body suddenly was covered in a red glow. I saw the two places where we made the most damage on her so far glow the brightest before the light moved to her fists and she suddenly leapt into the air above my pokemon.

"Teleport!" Blade suddenly dived for Blaze and got them out of there just in time as Slaking's fists came down on the ground and shook it like an earthquake. I was knocked off my feet easily and the fists of my father's most powerful pokemon cracked the ground as well as left imprints of cracked hands in the ground, putting the center of the field down by another few feet then the rest of it.

I felt my heart pounding like crazy at the power she just showed. "Counter" had been the move my father used, a move where a pokemon takes the damage it's so far taken and gives it back to its enemies tenfold. I felt it hard to catch my breath as I watched her settle down before returning to my father's side. Blaze and Blade jumped down from the ceiling there, where Blade had teleported the two of them to where they'd be safe. They both looked back to me and gave me looks of worry, and yet they were the ones that had to face that monster of a pokemon. I let out a single laugh and smiled at them, finally gaining control over my emotions as I turned the sudden fear I felt into excitement and the adrenaline starting pumping heavily in my veins.

"That's not going to stop us!" With my worries at ease, it settled my boys down and they turned back to the battle. "Now you two! Blaze, hang behind for a moment and Blade, use focus blast!"

My psychic and fighting type pokemon brought his hands close together before his chest and curled around his hands to that the shape he was making in his hands looked like two disconnected parts of a circle. From the center of that circle he was holding with his arms, a white light appeared. The light became stronger between his hands as he gathered energy.

"Like I'm going to give you time to finish that attack!" My father shouted out before he looked over at his pokemon. "Slaking! Take that pokemon out with dynamic punch!"

Slaking nodded to her trainer and pulled back her fist in slow motion before she whipped it out before her toward Blade.

"Oh no, you don't!" Blaze flew forward with his blinding speed and ended up in the blind spot of my father's pokemon. "Now Blaze! Sky uppercut!"

Blaze's fist flew upward with its white energy that covered the first that knocked Slaking out of her fighting stance and knocked her back. She still held her ground as she glared down at us.

"Don't give her time to recover!" I called out. "Use blaze kick Blaze!"

My fire and fighting type then jumped up over Slaking's head and threw his flame covered leg upon the top of Slaking's head. She howled in pain as she took more damage and my father cried out.

"But that's not all!" I turned to Blade with a grin and pointed at Slaking who wasn't out yet. "Now Blade! Fire!" The white light that had gathered in Blade's hands was finally enough and was sent flying through the air toward Slaking before slamming into her entire body. She was engulfed by the light before she began to fall forward, but somehow caught her balance in mid-fall. I gasped, as she was still standing.

"No way…" I gasped. _What the hell does it take to take down this pokemon?_

Luckily, I never had to find out. Slaking's eyes had then turned to swirls and she fell to the ground, unable to get up. My eyes widened as she lay there on the ground and there was suddenly no longer any barrier standing in the way of my fifth badge.

"Wow… we beat Slaking… we beat you Dad!" I squealed, one of the more girlish moments I've had in a long time. I watched my two male pokemon high five each other before I raced up to them and hugged them both. The rest of my team joined us as well in a large group hug before I saw my father return his pokemon to her pokeball and walk over to us. Our cheers quieted down and I stepped out before my pokemon to face my father.

"Jezebel Emery-Twain… I can't believe how much you've grown up after all this time." My father took me into his arms and I felt his tears roll down my back. "After all this time, you became so strong that you've even beaten me…" he pulled back and I watched him quickly wipe away the tears that continued to escape from his eyes. "I know you can make it, honey, and you have no idea how proud I am to give you my badge. I think this is one of the happiest moments of my life!" My father pulled a badge of his out of his pocket. It looked like a barbell that was silver in color, but within the circles of the barbell, there was a more whitish grey color in the center. "This is the balance badge, Jez, your fifth gym badge that will allow you, once you have all eight of them, to enter the challenge to become the strongest trainer in Hoenn."

"Dad! Stop it!" I felt my face flush red from his comments. "It's embarrassing…"

"Well, I don't care!" He gave me a grin and patted my back. "Come on, honey, before a pack of them swarm this place. Let's go decorate that tree."

"…Fine."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A few days later left us only a week away from Christmas day and my father and I had finally finished the finishing touches on our home in Petalburg. Lights were streamed inside and outside of our home. I was shocked and thrilled that my father let me decorate the rooms with colored and white lights, to frame some of the doorways, and decorations. We had out wonderful centerpieces made of balsam, pine and spruce with bright red dishes and a couple of mistletoes hung around the house, and I knew my father put those up for a reason. Casey and Mattie came over at certain times and invited themselves into our home, and of course, tried to get me and one of them under a mistletoe. Of course it never worked because I knew all the locations of it throughout the house and would avoid those pathways. Of course, my father would still try to move them so he could surprise us with the tradition, but it never worked.

With Hoenn being a very tropical island, we never get snow in these locations. The only places that even remotely saw snow were the top of Meteor Falls and some of the islands out to the east of here. Since we were so close to the equator, it was just not possible for us to get snow. Not that we cared too much. While I always did want to play in the snow one day with my friends and pokemon, I was still very content for the time being in the warm location I was. I could wear loose and light clothes all year round and never have a problem.

All of my friends came over at one point and we exchanged gifts then. Of course, we weren't allowed to open them until Christmas, but just to have them ready and waiting under the tree was better than not having them at all. Aria came by first out of everyone and battled my father to also earn her fifth gym badge. It was a struggle, but the girl managed to do it. It came down to Metang and Slaking, and thanks to Metang being a steel type, its endurance saved it. Mattie was next to face my father and got another badge before the holiday season was over. It had been a tight battle, just as mine had been with my father. Mattie was brought down to a final Pokemon, Luna, who won him the badge because of that damn feline pokemon's determination. Casey was the last of the four of us to try, and he failed, twice, before he finally beat my father. Casey had a really rough time dealing with my father just thanks to the brutal strength and defense that all came wrapped up into Slaking. Of course, anyone could get past Linoone and Spinda easily enough, but Slaking was the last leg, and she was the one that would make or break you.

But now all of us had our fifth badge and would have nothing to worry about for after Christmas. We'd be able to just leave and continue onto route one-hundred and nineteen that was connected to Mauville City that would lead us to the next location where we could get a badge, Fortree City, my last living location before I came back home.

I was dreading the fact of seeing all my family, however. My father still didn't know about his brother or brother in law and their families and what they did in their 'spare time'. But even worse than all of that, I was dreading seeing my mother. I'd not seen or heard of her since the first night I made it here to Petalburg after I ran away with Casey. She was the one that worried me the most. She would try to drag me back home and lock her away in her house and take me to all corners of the region where no one would be able to visit us, not even her own brother or husband.

And I won't let that happen.

Just thinking about these things just made me feel horrible as I had clenched and unclenched my fists while eating the light lunch I'd made myself and my father about midday. He was taking a short break from sending home bug trainers who had no powerful pokemon, or pokemon in general, and was enjoying the fact that he was getting a break from it and getting to spend it with his daughter. The two of us were quietly sitting in the kitchen with all our pokemon and feeding them while we relaxed for a bit.

"So, Jez," my father started up the conversation, "what're your plans for after Christmas with the family?"

"That'll depend entirely on how Christmas goes." I sighed. "I'm really not sure how it's going to go when Mom gets here, but after talking with Champion Violet Vilmos and Champion Gwyn Jalen-"

"Whoa! Hold on a minute!" My father halted me from finishing that sentence. "My baby girl met two of the most powerful champions in the world?" I saw a tear drop from his eyes. "It's good to know you have good friends when you need them!"

"Dad!" I flushed at that. "Stop it!"

"Sorry, honey. I couldn't help it." He calmed down and leaned against his hand to listen to me. "Now continue on, please?"

I groaned. "As I was saying, it depends entirely on Mother. If she actually behaves herself at Christmas then I'll be staying a bit longer, because, of course, I want to stay longer with you, Dad, but if she doesn't, then I'm getting out of here." I shook my head and looked down at my half eaten food. "I just keep having this dreadful feeling that she's going to take me away if I'm here long enough for her to catch me." I looked back up at my father, who then had a serious face planted on him. "She keeps ruining everything… I don't want that to happen again. I don't want her to ruin what we have now."

"She won't. I won't let her." My father got up from his seat and quickly walked up behind me and took my body into his arms. My head rested against his chest. "I told her that you were going to be here for Christmas and invited her, but if she wasn't on her best behavior, then I would be kicking her out and she'd be spending it alone."

"As nice as that is Dad," I chuckled and looked up at him, "that still seems a little too mean… it will be… Christmas after all…"

"We'll just keep praying to Latios and Latias that she behaves herself and we get in a good Christmas. I just got a phone call yesterday from Maxie. He's thrilled to be seeing you, and hopefully enjoy a good Christmas with you and everyone."

I didn't let my father see it, but hearing the name of his brother-in-law hurt. After all I've been through as the nameless trainer girl who's been facing off against them, it hurt. I would be seeing him put on an act, to act like he did before he started his stupid organization.

Suddenly the phone rang and it caught my father and me off guard. I jumped slightly when it started ringing. My father smiled down at me and released me from his hold before he walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

There was a pause.

"Archie!" my father happily exclaimed on the line. "How've you been? How's the family?"

My eyes widened when I heard who it was. I took my leave then and hurried up to my room and quickly pulled out my pokenav. I quickly dialed one of the only people who knew the secret and hit the send button. I waited, the ringing echoed on the line. Once… twice… on the third time, I heard the call click and someone pick up.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey Mattie…" I sighed when I heard his voice come over the line.

"_J-j-jezebel!_" I heard something crash on his side of the line and I blinked in surprise. "_W-what a-are yo-you call-ling for? I-I th-though you w-were sp-spending time w-with your dad…_"

"I was… but…" I sighed and I heard the boy's stuttering stop on the other side of the field. "My uncle called him…"

"_J-Jezebel…_" I heard him suck in a gasp. "_I'm s-so s-sorry…_"

"Nothing you could do about it, Mattie. I just needed to talk with someone." I shrugged. "Tell me what you've been doing with your family."

Mattie then proceeded to take up at least half an hour telling me about how he'd been spending his time with his family. His father, of course, had not been too happy that Mattie had become a trainer due to his heart problems and asthma, but he had apparently gotten over it in time. His mother had been just as petrified as his father had been, but she was glad to see him safe and home, though she also may had been taken in by the cute faces of Mattie's pokemon.

He also told me that while he was home, he made a quick trip to Rustboro and talked to Mr. Stone about using the fossil regenerative machine he'd mentioned that could bring pokemon fossils back to life. Mattie used that then to bring back the two fossils he had to life. The first one was a lileep, a rock and grass type pokemon that had a small purple body with four rounded feet and a long neck that extended to a flower like head with the face in the middle of it. He named her Corra and said that she'd be a part of his active team. The second pokemon he got was one that hung low to the ground and had two front claws that were long and came to a point, grey in color, while its other legs were tiny and white with red tips to help him move. Its eyes were spread wildly on either side of its head with a hard rock like top to it that was a black and red color. It was called an anorith, a rock and bug type pokemon. Mattie nicknamed him Claw and said he would be remaining behind with his parents since Claw didn't show any interest in battling, just stuffing his face with berries.

The funny thing I noticed, though, is that he is a male trainer, but his entire active team that he battled with was made up of females. It was just a funny factor that I thought of that I couldn't help but laugh at.

I finally let Mattie go when there was nothing more to talk about and I had been calmed down about my uncles and their families. I hated the fact that they called my home, but I couldn't help it since Christmas was coming up and they were family after all. Dad knew nothing about their involvement or operations, and while it was unfair to keep this from him, it was for the better.

I bid Mattie a good day and hung up just in time to see my father standing in the doorway to my room. I felt like a stantler caught in headlights when he looked at me.

"Everything all right, Jez?" My father walked up to my bed and sat next to me, putting his arm over my shoulder. "You took off in a hurry when I was talking with your uncle."

"Sorry about that." I sighed. I silently pulled my legs up to my chest and laid my head on them. "I just… I was just giving you some space so you could take your call… and I got a little bored, so I decided to talk to Mattie until you were done. He was free and chatted with me for a bit."

"Honey… is there something else that you're not telling me?" My father patted my shoulder his arm was over. "You seem awfully upset."

My mind raced for a lie that I could use that would make sense to my father, something that would allow me to slip through his fingers still about the truth with his brother and our entire family. I thought of all possibilities that I could use. _Mattie? No, I'd just talked to him and haven't talked to him for a few days, and I'd been happy up until the call my father just got. Aria? No, she's been too busy with her family and taking over some of the duties of her father while he rests and she's actually home. Casey? Well… I had just talked to him yesterday evening… but what would the lie be? I don't think a reasonable lie could come from that… what about-_

"Jezebel?" My father used my full name this time; a more stern look came to his face and I became worried even more so at the sight of it.

I sighed and looked away from him. My lie finally ready and it sat on the tip of my tongue. "I'm sorry Dad… it's… just…" I shook my head and breathed deeply. "I… I…"

"Jez, what is it?" I suddenly felt his hand latch onto my wrist and it forced me to look up at his face. "What is it?"

"I… I can't stop thinking about her… Mom…" I shifted my eyes away once it left my mouth and escaped into the air. "I… just can't let it go… my fears… about her…"

My father's grip on me slackened as I felt him buying my partially true story. Of course I was worried about what my mother would do, but I wouldn't let her do as she pleased anymore, but my father didn't need to know that I'd finally decided that for myself yet.

"I called Mattie to help ease my worries. He knows about her and he… just knows how to help me calm down." I shook my head and sighed. "I'm sorry, but when Uncle Archie called… he's family… and family… makes me think… of her…"

"No. I should be the one who's sorry, Jez." My eyes widened and flashed up to look at his. "I didn't realize just how much she bothered you, but then again, I didn't have to suffer under her rules and roof for all of my life." He kissed my forehead. "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"Dad, you don't have to do that…"

"I know!" My father's face quickly cleared up of his worries and he had a grin. "Why don't we head over to the small clothing store down the road and get you an outfit for Christmas Day. I know you're not super-girly, but you don't want your mother to be able to find you once you leave, so we'll get a wig and a dress!"

"The wig sounds fine, but a dress?" I snorted at him. "No way in hell."

"Oh, come on, Jez!" My father pleaded with me, getting down on his knees to give me the Poochyena pout. "It'd be a great way to fool your mother! And I bet you'd look amazing in one! Please? For me?"

I scowled. "No."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_I can't believe I actually got this…_ Against all my arguing with my father, he still somehow managed to up one on me and get me a dress to go with a wig that would give me my old hair style back, but not be as long. The dress he got me was an emerald green in color that was snug fitting to the top half of it, which had no straps over my arms, and the bottom half of it relaxed and flowed around more when you walked in it. A belt was fitted around my waist to add a bit of style to the plain dress. I sighed another time as I looked in the mirror at myself.

Today was Christmas Day. My father somehow convinced me to get this dress the afternoon after he took me out when I told him about my fears of my mother. I don't know how he did it, but I sadly had to wear it today for when we met up with the others. I scowled when I looked at it… but it made my father so happy… I let it slide, for this time, but I was not a huge dress-up person.

After I had finished debating about the dress for the longest time, I slipped it on my body and placed the wig over my head and decorative flat shoes on my feet that matched the black belt. It covered all evidence of my real hair style and I sighed when it looked like I was looking at an old version of myself: submissive, obedient… something that I didn't care to be anymore, but I had to put up with being for a single day, just one day.

On another note, things had been settled out to keep my family from finding out about me with covering up my looks. My Pokemon, on the other hand, I had to keep up in my room. If they were to come down and enjoy the party with us (as much as I would have liked them to) they would give me away. I also had it set up where Spinner would be staying here with Slacker and my father. He wasn't a fighter and it was mean to him to keep putting him in those situations, and this way he can enjoy a happy life here at home with all the berry trees, sun and other trees of Petalburg and never be caught, because he was my pokemon.

I slipped down the stairs to see my house all decorated and filled with the smell of amazing food. Dad had been cooking yesterday and today with my help to get the snacks and part of the feast all set and ready for today. Anything that we didn't make was being brought by my uncles and aunts. The ham was what I could smell the strongest of out of everything, followed shortly by the rolls and some dips we made. Aunt Shelly… she was bringing a full bird for us to eat. Aunt Courtney… she planned to bring many drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and some sweets she baked, like cookies and a log cake. My mother hadn't been assigned anything since no one was pleased with her, so it'd be interesting to see what she does or if she brings anything at all.

"There you are, Jez!" My father called to me from the kitchen when he saw me come down the stairs. "You look amazing, honey! I'm so glad you wore the dress!"

"I still don't care for it much, but I do have to say that you look nice, Dad." My father had dressed up slightly for the day. It was a more formal family gathering for us. He was dressed up in a set of dress pants of onyx color and a light blue button up shirt. He had a few buttons opened up at the top and his hair was still the same. Since we were inside, he wore no shoes, but had on a pair of socks. He'd slip some on later.

"Well thanks, honey. Hey, can you start setting out the snacks and grab some drinks while I make sure all the presents are under the tree?"

"Dad… didn't you check like a million times already?"

"Honey, it's a habit. I want this Christmas to be perfect!" His grin he had planted on his face slowly faded to a sad smile. "Even if your mother may ruin it… Forgive me for saying this, Jez, but I wish she was like she used to be."

"Used to be?" I blinked at him in shock. "What do you mean? Mom's always been possessively crazy and insane."

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Not really, Jez. She was amazing when I first met her. She didn't have a bone of any of that crap I normally see and hear out of her now in her body when I first met her. She was one of the sweetest ladies I'd ever dated, not to mention the most determined." He sat at one of the chairs and leaned on the table using his hand. He chuckled lightly and I gently touched his shoulder. "Jez… back before I ran the gym, my grandfather was running it. He intended to pass it onto my father, but he had no passion for it. When it came down to the next in line, he wanted either Archie or me, then, to take it over when we were getting older and he was starting to wither away. He was quite an older man when my father had been born, and even more so when Archie and I were born. He was almost ninety before I'd even become a teenager."

I pouted angrily at him. "How does this make any sense with how Mother was apparently 'nicer'?

"I'm getting to that." My father glanced back up at me with a serious look on his face, one that I didn't see often. "Archie declined taking over the gym. His passion was water pokemon and the ocean. He always wanted to help them and expand their environment if he could and keep it safe. I was the only one who didn't know what I wanted. And then… I met your mother… oh Jez… she was so beautiful back then." He snorted. "Of course she still is now, but the way she acts does tend to get in the way of that…"

"Dad, you're getting off topic again."

"Sorry." He laughed once. "I wasn't dating your mother at the time. I was only about fifteen, but I'd had my fair share of girls that I'd dated. But Brittany… she had this charm to her that pulled me in. She was like an addiction, and I couldn't shake her loose. She became my friend at first; she always listened to me going on and on about how I wasn't sure what I should do in life. She used to question me right back about it, asking if I loved my pokemon and if I wanted to be a gym leader. I was never able to give her an answer."

My father paused for a moment, his eyes clouded over in recognition of his past as he remembered these moments. I could see them taking my father further from reality and back into the past, where part of him just couldn't seem to get past.

"Dad?" I gave him a fist in the shoulder and he shouted out in surprise. He looked up at me in bewilderment. "What? You wouldn't respond to me and you were daydreaming and heading back into your memories."

He snorted angrily, but allowed it. It wasn't like I'd actually hurt him, just surprised him.

"So, where was I?"

"You were talking about how you weren't able to give Mom an answer about what you wanted to do in life."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Dad blew some air past his lips, allowing them to vibrate and make that strange sound that when I was younger could get me to laugh at him. "One day, your mother slapped me and told me to find out what I wanted to do. Otherwise she'd never speak to me again. 'Your path is right in front of you, take it, don't watch it wither', as she had said. The next day I told my grandfather I wanted to take over, and he started to give me some pointers."

"Wow, sounds like Mom was just as harsh as she is now." I rolled my eyes at how much Mom still seemed like her normal horrible self in the past as she did nowadays.

"That's not what I meant. She was so determined to help me find my path in life, and when talking about it wasn't working, she shot it into my face, and boy, did that get me going." He shook his head. "Your mother was nice too, as much as you don't see it. I just hope that one day she gets some help so you can see that side of her before we pass on." My father sighed and looked out the window. "I wish I could see her like that one more time…"

"Well… as nice as that sounds, I'm not holding my breath for her. Now, come on, Dad." I lifted my father out of his chair by dragging his arm. "We gotta get things ready for-"

The doorbell suddenly rang and it caused my father and me both to freeze and be silent at its sound. It rang another time before I shook myself out of my daze.

"Coming!" I rushed myself to the door and quickly grabbed a hold of the knob before twisting and opening the door. Outside was my father's side of the family, Uncle Archie, Aunt Shelly, and my two cousins, Caspian and Nixie. They all greeted me with warm smiles and grins, their arms filled with gifts and merry in the air. It was something I wasn't used to seeing from them in a _long_ time…

"Jez!" My uncle was the first to greet me with his arms full of presents and stockings. "Can we come in?"

"Of course!" I put on my best front for the four of them and allowed them into my father's home. "Do you guys need any help with anything?"

"Oh, thank you, Jezebel, but we're fine." Aunt Shelly shook her head. "Caspian and Nixie can get the rest of it; it's only a couple small things."

"Oh, okay." The four of them moved past me further into the house and were quick to greet my father while I closed the door. Aunt Shelly quickly took the food she brought into the kitchen with the help of Caspian while Nixie and Uncle Archie headed for the family room on the edge of the house where we had all our presents.

My uncle was dressed up from his uniform of Team Aqua. He wore a set of black dress pants and a darker blue shirt, similar to my father's in style with the top couple buttons undone like he normally had on his shirt from his clothes he wore when he was the boss of Team Aqua. Aunt Shelly was in a beautiful blue dress that hugged her curves well and had thin straps on each shoulder. It also showed off a lot of her skin on her back. Her wild red hair was released giving an amazing color scheme of a bright hair color and dress compared to her pale-like complexion. My cousins both had their father's sleek jet black hair and showed it off well with their attire of bright blue colors to contrast it. Nixie was in an icy blue dress that was a bit frillier toward the end of it, but held a style similar to her mother's. Caspian was dressed similarly to his father, but had the same color for his shirt as Nixie had for her dress. Caspian's hair was short compared to the waist long hair Nixie had on her head. Both of them had crystal like sapphire eyes that glowed when they looked at me. I know they didn't recognize me as the one that hit them on the mountain.

Suddenly the doorbell rang again and I was forced to turn around and pull open the door again after calling to those on the other side that I was coming. On the other side was my mother's side of the family, her brother, my Uncle Maxie, and his wife and children: Aunt Courtney and my cousins Edan and Enya. With warm smiles on their faces, they also had bags and food within their hands.

My uncle was dressed like the other males, and Edan followed his example. The two of them wore grey dress pants and bright red shirts. Their hair matched their clothes easily. Aunt Courtney and Enya, on the other hand, were in dresses much like Aunt Shelly and Nixie's. With the similar style, the only difference was color, where Aunt Courtney's was a deep red while Enya's was a pale red, almost pink color. The mahogany hair of my aunt stood out against her dress while Enya's hair practically matched hers, but was a few shades darker.

"Merry Christmas, Jezebel!" My uncle greeted me with a warm smile. "May we come in?"

"Of course." I stepped out of their way and allowed them all inside. "Can I help you all with anything?"

"No, we're good, Jez." Aunt Courtney waved me off. "Is there anything that we can help with?"

"Not really, Dad and I got things all set up. All we have now is presents, I think." I walked back into the rest of the house and joined my father in the kitchen. "Do you need me to do anything, Dad?"

He shook his head. "Not really, Jez, other than get everyone out into the other room. Its present time, and I'm not waiting for your mother."

"That seems a bit rude, don't you think, Norman?" Courtney was the one to question my father.

My father sighed at her. "Normally I would wait, but she's been horrible to Jez and me lately. I'm done with waiting on her. I told her the time. The fact that she didn't phone ahead or wasn't here by now is her own damn problem." My father shook off the feeling of sadness I saw washing over him and he plastered on a smile. "Now, it's Christmas everyone! Let's get in that other room and open some presents!"

It didn't take long for the rest of my family that were present to hurry to the other room and start opening presents. My father offered to be the one to hand things out since he didn't want to be stuck between the two families.

That was my job.

Yet things seemed to go pretty well, regardless of that. Both sides of my family were being on their best behavior as my father passed out the presents, though I have to say that my cousins were quite jealous that the first four were to me, three of them being from my friends and the last from my father. After that the presents started to vary as they were passed out, but many more still headed my way.

Of course, these presents were from my other sides of the family that didn't see me all that much due to my mother. All they knew was that I liked to leave the house and travel, so they gave me gift cards to certain places all around the region to eat out and some extra cash. You can never really have enough of that.

My presents from my friends, however, were very different then what my aunts and uncles gave me. From Aria, the girl had given me a coordinator case to place ribbons in. It was fat enough and had enough sections to hold about twenty five ribbons or so in it. I'd never really thought about being a coordinator. Battling had always been my passion, but the idea did appeal to me now. Moves were like art, and I bet Aria thought this would be a good gift not only because she was probably going to try it too, but also because she saw the artistic side me that came out at times, and I bet she thought I'd do well at contests. I'd have to thank the girl for that later.

Casey, on the other hand, had given me a rare cloth that he'd found when he was traveling. From what he wrote about it on the note he'd placed with the present, it was called a 'reaper cloth', which could evolve certain pokemon, and from what he researched, a dusclops is the only pokemon that can evolve with it. From the stories I bet I told him about one of my old friends I'd be seeing in the future, he thought I'd need it. It was said that this item has a lot of spiritual energy attached to it, which is why it's loved so much by the same pokemon that either evolves with it, or has evolved with it. I'd thank the young man later when I got the chance.

Mattie had given me a sweet little gift that I couldn't believe the boy had gotten for me. The boy had actually gone out and researched heavily before finding the perfect one and buying me a fucken _guitar_. I couldn't believe it. He left a note with it, saying how he heard about me talking how much I loved music and playing it, so he wanted to hear me play sometime. My Latios, that boy… _I should really stop calling him that…_ that _young man_ was so sweet to do that, and it seems he kept getting better and better at doing the small things that make me smile. Though I'd still have to whip him a good one about spending so much on a guitar of all gifts…

My father was the last of them. His gift to me had been one that I was excited to get most of all. My father had never been able to give me personal gifts or things that mattered since he didn't always know me that well, and while we were still figuring things out about each other, this gift he gave me was one step in the right direction. He gave me a locket made rose gold that was shaped like a heart and had a flame pattern edged on the front of it. Inside was no picture, which left it up to me who I put inside it. He also seemed to give me a charm bracelet; it was made of the same type of metal and held a few differently colored charms on it. The first one I saw was that of a fist, which I had to assume, was from my father. It was colored in silver and gold to make it stand out against the pinkish gold of the bracelet. The second one was a book, outlined with silver pages and a golden cover. It had to be a charm about Casey, it fit him well with the shoes he wanted to fit into. The next one was that of a camera. That had to be Aria, with her dream of being a famous reporter. She'd need pictures to document things. The next one was a cute flower that was entirely silver, but had red and green gems placed in its side to give off the illusion of the rose, its red petal and stem with thorns. It had to have been from Mattie. The rest of the chain was left blank for me to add to as I pleased. It was beautiful to look at, and while both items were a pinkish gold color, I didn't mind that because it was such a thoughtful gift and it was beautiful. I couldn't have shunned a gift like this if I tried.

We were just finishing up with the presents when we heard a knock on the door, one that didn't sound too friendly. My father sighed and rose from his seat to answer it while the rest of us all waited quietly to see who it was. Of course, I'm sure at the time we all had ideas to who it was, and I'm sure they were all the same person.

As soon as I heard the shrilling voice, I knew it was my mother.

She huffed in the doorway entrance and hurried over into the family room. She looked at all of us angrily with a thick pouting lip standing out. But somehow, the woman stopped her angry rant and calmed down almost instantly. She then gave us all a smile and I felt inclined to reach to either side of me and pull my uncles before me as a shield.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" She was quick to pull out some wrapped packages from the bag she carried on her arm. "I have presents! Sorry I'm so late! I thought I would take the hike from Littleroot to here and it took longer than I thought!"

"It's all right Brittney. Come, have a seat." Maxie was the one to make room for his older sister by scooting closer to his wife and leaving me in the line of fire. _Thanks Uncle Maxie, now I really know you're out to get me…_

"Oh, thank you, little brother!" My mother hurried next to me and pulled out a gift that she handed to me first. "Oh, Jez, I have a couple for you to open!"

_Joy…_ I sucked up my pride and sighed before reaching to take the present she was giving me. Suddenly something caught her eye and she took my wrist into her hands. She eyed the charm bracelet and the necklace I had on me before she noticed the things next to me that my friends had gotten.

"What are all these things… and a _guitar_?" My mother screeched when she saw it. "But I wanted to give you one! And here you're taking one from someone else? And what about all this other stuff? Why do you have a contest case, and what's with that ugly cloth? Someone couldn't afford any money to give you something good?"

"Brittany, shut up." My mother instantly went quiet the second those words came flying out of my mouth. "You have no idea how much these things, and the people who gave them to me, mean to me. So I don't want to hear another word of this. If you can't clean up your act and stop acting like a bitch, then I'm leaving. Screw Christmas if I can't enjoy it with my family happily."

All of this information hit my mother hard; I could see every little wheel in her brain (that was still somehow in her head) cracking and move at full speed to process and decide next what she wanted. Did she want me to leave? Of course not. She was obsessed with having me around and controlling my life. Though she wasn't going to have the option to have both of those features open, only one, and I _damn_ well wasn't going to be controlled…

"Jezebel Emery-Twain, don't you dare speak to me that way. I'm your damn mother!"

"Go screw yourself then. I won't be controlled by you anymore!" I quickly gathered up my presents from my friends and the few things my aunts and uncles and cousins had given to me before I hurried over to my father. "Sorry I can't stay, Dad…"

"I know." My father showed me a painful smile. I could tell he hated the fact that I was leaving, but I couldn't stay any longer. "Go take as much food as you can and get out of here. Call me when you get the chance."

"Thanks, Dad." I dropped my things for a moment and grabbed him in a hug. I kissed his cheek. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, honey. Now go." He gave me a little shove and it was all the encouragement I needed to grab my things again and hurry out to the kitchen and grab all the food I could in some dishes to eat with my pokemon later while we were on our way over to Fortree. I could hear my mother screeching out from the other room as I did so and she tried to come after me, but I saw that my father took hold of her and wouldn't let her go.

With all my things in my arms, I hurried up to the next level and into my room. All my pokemon were waiting there for me. They had my stuff out that I needed and everything was ready to go. I quickly placed all my gifts and food on the bed before I changed and threw everything I could into a pocket or my backpack. My guitar I'd have to carry along with my flutes. Thankfully I had a strap to attach both of them to my back so I wouldn't have the heavy strain of them from running and carrying them. Once the straps were in place, I returned all my pokemon but Spinner and Slacker, who both sat on my bed. I took Spinner's pokeball off my belt and placed it on my desk. He looked up at me sadly, but gave me a nod to go.

"I'll be back soon enough, Spinner. Enjoy the life here with my dad and be safe, and if my mother gives you any problems, don't be afraid to hit her with a water gun or ice beam, okay?" He nodded and I kissed both him and Slacker before opening the window and grabbing my two cases of instruments. "Bye, you two. I love you."

I jumped out of the window then and onto part of the roof before leaping over into the next tree before landing down in the bushes. I couldn't afford to have anyone see what I actually looked like that was from my family. Once I was far enough out of the sight of the house, I pulled out Blaze and Blade and released them. Blade was quick to grab my heavy cases on my back and Blaze grabbed me into his arms before they used their powerful legs to jump off the group and push us nearly fifty to a hundred feet away from where we would be the time before.

Before we knew it, we ended up in Oldale Town and jumped over practically the entire thing before we ended up on route one-oh-three, which connected to the area just south of Mauville. The only problem was that there was a giant river that separated the two sides. Blaze and Blade made quick work of it with their powerful legs that pushed them entirely to the other side in one bound. From there, they ran all the way north to Mauville and then we took a sudden turn to the east and headed to route one-eighteen.

Like the last route had been, a river was in our way. The river leads out to the ocean and we were near the mouth of it, which is why it was much larger than the one previous to it. Blaze and Blade had to look for a moment before they noticed the rocks in the middle of the river that they used to jump across. I felt like every time we ended up in the air I'd be thrown out of their arms, but Blaze never let go of me once, not to mention Blade had his eyes on me the entire time to make sure I'd be okay.

We finally made it to the area where I needed to be. I was away from my controlling mother. I'd have to call Violet later on and let her know how _it_ went.

My pokemon set me down and I grabbed my things from Blade and strapped them back on my shoulders before I set off into the soaked woods. We'd train here until we'd run into the others.

**Brittany's Point of View:**

I'd watched as Jezebel had run off with the many things she'd gotten for Christmas from the apparent friends she's made since she ran away from me. I was glad to see that she had such good friends now and one of them gave her an amazing new guitar that I hoped she would play often. As selfish as it was, hearing Jezebel play and sing was one of the things I had hoped to hear before I passed away. She was amazing with music, much like I had been long ago. I remember the days where I used to be just like her and have so many options… all up to my accident.

But now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to make my family hate me. I wanted them to move past my death with no ties to me so they could live on peacefully and not be saddened by my death. Jezebel, I knew, would have no problems with that. So would my nieces and nephews, but my brother? Maxie remembers me back when I was different, he'd remember that side of me and mourn. My husband would do the same. Norman was always attached to the woman I used to be. But for all of them, I act like the enemy, I act like the villain. If they hate me… my death won't hurt as much to any of them…

"Brittany, how could you do that?" Maxie was quick to stand and my brother was finally starting to realize that I wasn't going to change. I smiled internally at that, but held my furious look outward. "You knew this Christmas meant a lot to all of us so we could spend time with Jezebel since she was no longer living with you! How could you do this to your own husband, daughter and all the rest of us?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Maxie; she's _my_ daughter." I huffed. "You don't know anything!"

"You're right, and I don't want to." Norman was the one to stand up now. I'd never seen a fire so angry in his eyes, not since we were young and before all of this started. I almost cried that his anger was directed at me, but I wanted this. This _had_ to happen in order for all of them to move on. "I've _had_ it!"

"Hey! Calm down, Norman!" Archie was quick to get to his feet and restrain his younger brother. "Don't! She's not worth it!"

"Oh yes she is. After all she's done to _my_ daughter, she isn't welcome in _my_ home any longer." He threw his hand forward and pointed to the door down the colorful hallway. "Get out, and take all your Latios forsaken shit with you!" Norman chucked the box that I'd wrapped up and given Jezebel (which she had of course left behind) at me and it hit my shoulder as I turned away. It didn't hurt. It was a small box, in fact. All boxes that I'd wrapped and brought with me were all empty. I never got anyone anything because there was nothing I could think to give them on my last Christmas, nothing but an easing pain of when I passed. I only had until the summer. That's what I was given.

I'd given up on seeing my daughter grow up, I'd never make it. I'd given up on seeing her walk down the aisle in a white dress and with a sweet man to call her own, hopefully much like her father. Norman was a caring man that would be a wonderful grandfather when that time came. That was another thing I'd miss… my grandbabies… Oh, I hoped Jezebel at least had one… just one little cutie that had the same burning passion she did…

I'd given up on seeing her go to the top. I at first wanted my doctor to keep me alive that long, but the tumor was getting worse. My time's been cut in half. It's been hard, but by keeping the family mad at me, they don't notice my paling skin, my fading eyes, my thinning out. I kept stuffing myself for that and it was _damn_ hard…

But I'm doing it all for them… I love them so much… that I'm willing to be the one that's hated so they can be a stronger family together, so they can be what I never got the chance to… I want Jezebel to become the champion… I want her to try her hand at contests, and should she like it, become a coordinator… I want her to become a musician… I want her to do it all and be everything that she can be. I want her friends and family to stay by her side through it all, while I get left in the dust.

Just like I wanted it…

"Fine!" I screeched at him as I hurried out the door and slammed it shut. I quickly walked down the streets of old Petalburg and remembered how it used to be when Norman and I were young… this city still held its old charm and nature crossover. It was amazing to see it all still here. It made my heart swell in emotional turmoil as I realized that soon, all these things that I knew and loved would be coming to an end…

_Why me… Why me… Why did I have to be chosen to suffer?_ The thoughts screamed in my head as I cried the entire way back to Littleroot. As much as I knew I was doing this all for my family… it hurt all too damn much with remembering my one selfish desire… to stay alive.

_But I can't…_

**Witch's Note:**

**Holy shit! Now that was a crazy chapter! Especially towards the end! What did all of you guys think? What the hell is wrong with Jez's mother Brittany and when do you think she's going to die? Is she going to die? All are many questions that we will see soon enough in the future, but for now, I need to get started on the next chapter, so enjoy this one while I work on it!**

**I hope you all really loved the dramatic change in the way Jezebel's family acted when they were in a family setting. It shows how they are good people, but they are a bit messed up too with what they want. Who's going to strike next when we get back next week? Does Team Aqua attack? Or does Team Magma mobilize? You'll just have to see it all next time to find out!**

**So, as always, I love you all and I know you like my work at least a little bit if you're still reading this far into the series. Please leave a Review or send a PM with what you through of the chapter and any questions you may have for this story. Don't forget to do that! We're getting closer to the halfway point in the story!**

**See you guys all next week with a new chapter!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	16. The Weather Institute

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 16: The Weather Institute_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It'd been almost a good two weeks since Christmas had passed and when I left in the middle of the day after my mother arrived at our home. Since then, I'd been living out on route one-nineteen. A kind woman who had a small house on this route had allowed me to stay with her during my training with just paying a small rent of three-hundred and fifty a week, or fifty dollars a day. It really wasn't that much and it gave my pokemon and me a warm place we could rest after a hard day's work out in the pouring rain.

On this route, it tends to be raining most if not all the time here. It has something to do with the mountains in the west affecting the weather patterns or something like that, but regardless, it's been good for us to do more training while we waited for the others. I made that deal with them that I'd wait here on this route for them until they came.

After I ran away from my father's home, I'd called him later that day to wish him again a happy Christmas, even if I didn't plan to come back since I'd already made it so far. He was upset that I was so far away from him after we spend so much time and effort to make Christmas; it was hard for him to handle. I told him we'd meet up at some point and have a good lunch together or something like that. Maybe he could see me try my hand at contests?

I gave Violet a good call a few days after the disastrous holiday and told her what happened. She said she was proud of me for giving it a shot, but expected this outcome. She researched my mother's history and had predicted this, but wanted to give my mother an option to change like she did her own. Unlike her own mother though, who had turned around her ways and got on the medication she needed to be sane, my mother had done nothing and was still trying to have control over me, something that I will never let happen. I shoved her off and told her to fuck herself before taking off.

Violet also had told me it was good of me to get out of there like I did and was also proud of me for that, and would be expecting to see me when I got to Lilycove since she would be unable to meet up with me any earlier than that. Right now she was on an undercover investigation with her boyfriend Alex in Lilycove and following up a lead on Rose there along with some Team Aqua grunts. She was having Gwyn do the same with her boyfriend Tristan at Mt. Chimney with the reports of seeing a lot of Team Magma activity and Rose's brother Razi. The rest of Violet's group was sent to do little odd jobs around the region, but the major focus was investigating Mt. Pyre, a place I'd be visiting in the future where ghost type pokemon live and people and pokemon are buried. I have a friend there waiting for me… but Violet's group of Aaron, Vince and Levy would be finding out information on a set of items that Team Aqua and Team Magma would want to steal. Violet didn't tell me what, but just knowing a bit could come in handy since I would be stopping there in the future.

While I was also out on this route, I've been using my new guitar that Mattie had given me. It was a beautiful one that I swore was more for decoration then for playing. It was a black walnut guitar; it had an amazing dark color of purple and black with a beautiful black neck and head to it with dark purple tuning knobs. The color was amazing, but the sound was just as beautiful. It felt great to play the guitar again, my pokemon were always asking me to play any type of songs I knew or practice some chords. Silky would lie on my head while Acey lay next to me and Blaze and Blade sat on the couch as they listened to the sound echo through the room. It would put all of them to sleep for the night, and then I'd be able to slip in right after them to my own set of dreamlands. I planned to thank Mattie heavily for this amazing gift. I loved it, and so did my pokemon when I played it.

It was another day of training for us out in the down-pouring route of the eastern mainland on the way to Fortree City. I was happily taking a lunch break with my pokemon in the house of the woman who was allowing me to live with her when she came into the room she was allowing me to rent out.

"Jezebel, there are some visitors here for you," the woman, Serena, told me after knocking on my door. I blinked in surprise; no one had given me a heads up or anything, so it could literally be anyone. I got up from my seating area and set down my food and with Silky on my head, we answered the door.

When I looked out into the hallway I was thrilled to see that it was my friends that were here. Aria and Casey were quick to rush in and clash with each other about who was going to hug me first and ended up fighting over that while Mattie slipped past the two of them and raced into my arms. I laughed as the two others yelled at him before the two of them rushed over to see who would get second.

"Guys! Relax! There is plenty of me to go around for all of you!" It was so ridiculous, but I thought I'd go along with it.

"Oh, Jez, it's so good to see you!" Aria was the first out of all of them to talk. "We were so worried when you left your place at Christmas that we'd find you just like we did that day after we left Slateport!"

"No, I'm fine." I laughed as they separated from me. "So how were your Christmases?"

"M-mine was nice…" Mattie got his two cents in before Casey and Aria could argue. "My p-parents accepted that I-I was a trainer… as long as I-I'm careful, t-they're okay with it…"

I felt an overwhelming joy swell over my heart. "That's great, Mattie, and thank you for the guitar. My pokemon can't get enough of me playing it, and I can't get over how nice it sounds and how beautiful it looks. You went all out with using black walnut. That must have been expensive."

"You bought her a guitar?" Both Aria and Casey's jaws dropped as they looked at the guitar that stood against the bed in its case.

"That is so cool!" Aria jumped over to it and brought it back to me. "Play it, Jez!"

"Maybe later, you guys. We should travel together to get to Fortree City before nightfall. And it may be best to clear out now." I started to gather the few things I had in the room Serena allowed me to rent. "Can one of you guys tell the lady in this house that I'm moving out?"

"I'll do it!" Casey was quick to reply and fly out of the room before anyone else could speak.

I raised my eyebrow at the spot where he once stood. "Well that was quick."

"I-I wonder wha-what's up with h-him…" Mattie wondered.

"I'm sure he's fine. Just acting like his weird self." Aria brushed it off and grabbed my flute case for me. "Shall we get out of here?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

**Matthew's Point of View: **

A short while later the four of us were on our way heading north to where Fortree City was located, another couple hour hike up ahead anyway. It was peaceful on the path; the only thing we had working against us was the rain. It was coming down harder by the minute and never seemed to let up even for a second.

The rain easily made Aria and Casey irritated, which made talking with Jezebel easier. Without the two of them competing over who would talk to her, I took the opportunity to use their arguing session to my advantage to talk with my best friend.

Jezebel laughed as she watched the two of them argue up ahead. They were so furious with each other that I could see the steam rolling off their heads and out of their ears. "It's so funny to watch the two of them!"

"I-it is…" I agreed with her. "I-I wonder why t-they argue though?"

"A good question, Mattie. One that we may not find out the answer to, I'm afraid." She sighed. "Oh well-uh oh…"

"W-what?" Jezebel pointed a head of us to see Aria and Casey become really heated in their argument to where their faces turned redder then a tomato berry. They both soon huffed and while Casey turned away from her, Aria rushed off ahead.

"Shit." Jezebel cursed under her breath. "You take care of Casey. I'll get Aria, got it?"

"O-okay…" Jezebel then sped off after Aria and I was left with Casey. He was still turned away from me, the path we were walking on, and quite still angry. "Um… C-casey?"

"Huh?" He blinked his eyes open and turned around to look at me with a grin. "Mattie! What's up?"

"A-are you all right?" He blinked at me as I tried to ask him. "Y-you and Aria h-had another fight… are you all right? You look very angry…"

"I am angry!" Casey huffed and turned away and I shied back. "Who in hell does that woman think she is by ordering me around and demanding such things from me when she's younger than I am and doesn't know nearly as much as I know! It's annoying because she always starts fights with me when I'd rather just talk with her, but I just can't talk to her…"

"Why?" The question flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Why?" Casey questioned me back before he sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know… I want to talk to her. She's a really amazing girl… but… when she starts all these arguments…"

"It m-makes you mad and y-you get into them." I nodded to him in understanding. It took a long time to convince my family that I would be okay on my own while I was traveling and learning to become a trainer. It took months of heated arguments with my uncle that never seemed to end until he finally agreed, and he still frets over my health. It always gets on my nerves that people won't give me a chance to prove myself and think that I can't do anything for myself. I've _had_ it, and that's why I left.

"Yeah…" Casey sighed. "I'm so confused, Mattie."

"Confused? Y-you mean by why she starts these arguments?"

"No… something else." Casey looked over down the road where Aria and Jezebel had run down and there was a painful longing look in his face. "I feel like when I'm with Aria, the only way I can communicate with her is through arguing, but I don't want that to be out entire relationship…"

I blinked and stepped back in shock. _Could he be…_ "C-casey?"

"Yeah?" The older of the two of us wasn't looking at me for the moment.

"I-is it p-possible t-that…" _Why couldn't I just say it?_ "Y-you like Aria?"

I watched as the older male practically choked on the air and his eyes went wide in shock. He tumbled to the ground and turned back to glare at me.

"Don't say things like that!" His face was entirely deep red as he did all this and just confirmed my guess. "Me? Liking that bitch? No way!" He turned his head away so I couldn't see him as his face got darker in color.

Whether Casey wanted to admit it or not, he had feelings for Aria. This could be part of their problem with how they communicate, but I would need to talk to Jezebel first to find out what she knows from Aria.

"Y-your right, that w-was a bit r-rash of me, I'm s-sorry." I walked over to him and grabbed an arm to help him up while he continued to look away from me. "B-but we sh-should get moving… Jezebel a-and Aria are probably w-wondering where w-we are…"

"I guess you're right…" Casey's blush was still bright red, but it was slowly receding as I changed the topic. "Let's go catch up with them and make sure they didn't get into any trouble."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the ludicrousness of his comment. "T-them _not_ get i-into any trouble? T-that's like asking f-for a miracle."

He laughed too. "You're probably right."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I rushed after Aria the second Mattie told me he'd stay with Casey and find out what was going on. It was abnormal for her to act like this. Aria is a strong and independent woman. It's not like her to rush off at the end of a heated argument, especially one with Casey.

I quickened my pace to find Aria just up ahead of me; she finally stopped below a large tree and was down on the ground. She was hugging her knees to her chest and her head was down. The sight worried me enough to quicken my pace and rush over to her.

"Aria!" Her head jumped upward out of her legs for me to see her red face from not only arguing with Casey, but also the tears that were starting to stream down her cheeks. "Oh my Latias, are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine…" She was stuttering just has much as Mattie normally when he was red-faced. She shook it before she released a sob from her throat. "Oh Jez! I'm so tired of it!"

"Tired of what?" I sat down on the ground next to my best friend and placed an arm around her shoulders. She leaned on me, but she refused to look at my face.

"I'm so tired of arguing with him!" Another hiccup left her throat. "I don't want to argue with Casey anymore! I-I-!"

"Easy, Aria…" I shook her a little bit and she quieted down a bit. "Tell me what's going on."

"Well…" She sucked in a breath that sounded more like a hiccup to me. "I-I used to enjoy really teasing Casey because of how different he was from the rest of us. He didn't battle often and was always working on that stupid pokedex… I always poked fun to get him to talk to me because it was funny the way his face got red… At first it was just fun… but now… now I have… _feelings_…"

"Feelings?" I blinked at her. "Do you mean…?"

"I… I like him… Jez…." She looked up at me sadly. "I _like like_ him…"

"Oh…" My eyes went wide at her statement, because this news in all honesty shocked me. I thought that the two of them hated each other with a burning passion and their only way of communication was through arguing, but apparently I was wrong.

It would make the most sense as well since Aria and Casey would always be left behind by me and Mattie when we refused to wait up for them when one of their famous arguments were going on. While Mattie and I were gone from the picture, it's highly possible that other events and feelings may have surfaced when it was just them since they first met in Rustboro after the events of the tunnel just northeast of the city. With all the time alone they had, who knows what could have bloomed? It's so shocking to see Aria like this. She's never shown a side of weakness or fear since I found out she was afraid of the dark back in Dewford's Granite Cave.

_But how do we take it from here? Does Casey feel the same way she does or does he not share the same feelings for her? She's ready to admit it, but something seems to be stopping her. Does she think Casey won't return her feelings? Does she think that being together will really change them?_

"Jez…" I shook my head and came out of my head to look down at the girl. "What do I do?"

"Well…" _How could I tell her? I don't know either…_ "I really don't know right now Aria, but in my opinion, I would wait a bit."

"Wait?" She blinked at me as the tears started to dry. I was happy to see that.

"Yeah, wait a bit. I have no idea if Casey has any feelings for you as of now, but let me find out, because I think you two would be great together. And look at it this way; you would never get bored with each other with all the playful teasing." I showed her a smile. "Okay?"

"Yeah… sorry I landed all of that shit on you, Jez…" She wiped her eyes and the color started to change back to its white shades rather than red. "I can hang in there."

"Good, because we still have a route to complete, and I'll see what I can do with Casey after we get to-"

A sudden shout caught my attention. I whipped my head around to see a building shortly off in the distance who had a trainer outside of it being harassed by some men in trenchcoats. I snorted and I called out Blade, who didn't mind the water playing on his skin.

"Blade, separate them." My command was followed flawlessly as the young trainer disappeared from before the building and next to me to catch as he fell over. It was a young man who was out of breath and maybe only a few years older them myself. "Are you all right-"

"No!" He shouted out and pushed himself off of me. "You can't have Castform, Team Aqua!" He rushed back over to the men in coats and was back to fighting them off again.

"Team Aqua?" Aria was quick to jump her feet and no longer were her emotions showing except worry and anger. "Jez, your uncle-"

"I know." I snorted angrily and all my pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs. Blaze and Acey hissed at the rainy weather due to their types, ignored it and looked to me for orders. "All of you head over to that building and take out the grunts. I'll be there in a moment. Show them no mercy." My pokémon all nodded and Blade teleported them away from my side to the area in front of the doors where the grunts were knocked out and they kicked down the door before rushing inside.

"Jez!" I turned around to see the boys finally catch up to us and heavily breathe from their run. Casey looked up at me worriedly. "What's going on?"

"Team Aqua." I turned away from him and started to make my way over to the building. "Get out your pokemon and prepare for a fight."

**Shelly's Point of View:**

I hated the fact that my poor niece had to run away from us when we went over to Christmas two weeks ago. I was looking forward to find out what she was up to, not to mention we wanted to find out about her travels so we could plan around them and not have Jezebel run into us while on her journey with her friends. Archie also wanted to get some information out of Jez about that girl who had been sabotaging our operations. We were still no closer to finding out who she was all thanks to Brittany…

_But now was not the time to think about that._ I was in the middle of a raid and takeover of the weather station that was located just outside of Fortree. We were after the means to watch the weather all over the regions to find a better idea of the location of the legendary pokemon that my husband needed to awaken and control in order to increase the seas and oceans all over the world for the water pokemon. He's always loved the sea and its inhabitants… and it was my dream to help him accomplish his own desire.

Castform, the weather Pokemon, would also be able to help us. A pokemon's natural instinct is far better in the field then any piece of equipment ever could be. It would help us along with our research and hunt. The pokemon was only a few feet away from myself and my workers at the time, it was being protected by a group of scientists that stood in our way. The small white pokemon that looked not much more than a small white blob with a face of black eyes and a small mouth hid behind all of them in fear. Archie and I, we deeply cared for pokemon, water-types specifically, but that didn't mean that we had to spare a few pokemon and humans in order to achieve what we desire: a new world with vast oceans even wider then what we already have. It will be beautiful…

"You can't have Castform! Nor the machines!" One of the scientists yelled at me as I walked closer to them. "Leave us alone!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." The feeling of power rushing through my veins was another thing that was hard to let go with everything we were doing. I liked having such power from the pokemon I wielded and from those I had power over. The power that I felt made me grin. "I have objectives to accomplish for my boss and I need your machines and Castform for them. Now hand them over and we won't do any more damage or hurt anyone else."

"That's as far as you go, Shelly." I blinked and whipped around at the voice I heard behind me. Those four brats were there with their pokemon right at their sides, the girl that we had no idea as to who she was right at the front. Her emerald eyes were so piercing I felt the power slipping away out of me and fear taking its place.

For some reason, this girl had that effect on me.

"Ha! Like you'd stop us?" One of my members laughed out on the side and she grinned over at the four children. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Don't!" I snapped at the grunt, but it was too late, the words had slipped from her mouth and I knew all of our options had just faded away.

"Teleport." Her single command was obeyed and completed with no hesitation or questioning by her team. The psychic type's eyes glowed and I heard a gasp behind us before I noticed that the group we had held hostage was gone. My hair flew around my face as I looked back to her and saw that the group of scientists was behind her with Castform, the weather pokemon. The four kids were standing before then, the girl outward before all of them.

"You brat!" My grunts rushed out before me with their pokemon at the ready. They released their mightyenas, golbats and carvanhas. As they used water gun, the floor began to be covered in a few feet of heavy water that refused to drain when a grunt of mine closed the door. The carvanhas were able to swim and the mightyenas got on top of the desks and chairs in order to jump and move around.

"Don't joke around with us!" The other of the females with red hair jumped forward and sent forward a sceptile, its blades slashed at the water and took out the water pokemon. "You're in no league to take on Jez!"

_Jez? What did the girl mean by that? Was that girl…?_

"She's right!" The white haired boy jumped on top of the water pokemon he had, a swampert, which spat out large quantities of mud into the water that splashed up into the faces of the mightyenas. While they rubbed away the mud from their eyes, the large pokemon jumped forward and began to punch and throw them all over the place. "Jez is the strongest of us all; you don't have the right to battle her!"

_No… Jezebel isn't the strongest… she may be Norman's daughter… but there's no way…_

"Y-you're the worst." The younger of the boys with green hair spat. His swablu jumped off his shoulder and screeched out at the remaining flying pokemon in the air, which were forced to cover their ears from the loud cries. I was myself as well, along with my subordinates while the flying type took off into the air and slammed its body into all the golbats until they fell into the mud around our ankles. "Jezebel s-shouldn't have to deal with you a-at all!"

_And now Jezebel? These kids… are they referring to the girl behind them? Or are they referring to my niece? Or both? No, that girl can't be Jezebel! Jezebel is sweet and nice. She may have stood up to her mother, but there's no way she'd act like this! That damn girl…_

"You… you took the identity of my niece, didn't you?" My mightyena popped out of its pokeball and so did my sharpedo. Even with mud on the ground, he was able to move around fairly well, using his fins to cut through the watery ground.

The girl looked down at the ground and shook her head. "I didn't take what was already given to me… Shelly Twain." I gasped and stepped back, almost falling from the mud. "Whether or not you believe me is no concern of mine. I only care that I stop you. _That_ is all that matters to me." She raised a hand and her fire type jumped onto a desk; the blaziken's golden eyes were dead set on my pokemon and me, now that all my backup members were down and out. "Blaze, take them out."

The pokemon flew up into the air and its feet became encased in an orange glowing light before the Pokémon spun on its hands and landed a kick at both of my dark types, throwing them back into the wall. Somehow she's grown even stronger since the last time I saw her over at Mt. Chimney almost a couple months ago. Her pokemon landed back on the desk and glared down at me before the rest of her team jumped ahead of her and glared at me as well, then the other three teams joined as well and I knew we had no choice…

"Retreat!" We rushed out of the room as fast as my members and I could run, grabbing our pokemon on the way out and rushing to the boats we had just past the woods north of us. We would return to our base in Lilycove to discuss more options and what we would do from there with my husband.

But there was no way I could face that girl now, not with all these conflicting emotions and how strong she and her friends are.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After driving Team Aqua and my aunt out of the weather station, we were congratulated with open arms and were given a few small rewards that they had on them. One of them being a rare stone that was given to Mattie that they had found that could evolve certain pokemon. It was a shiny stone, which would evolve his roselia into another form at a later date, but he wanted to keep her in this form a bit longer to help her train some more.

The rest of us just were happy to help and didn't accept much else besides the rare stone. After saying our goodbyes and promising to call Violet and let her know that someone should protect that place, we headed out to the east to where Fortree was. It came into our sights in no time and then Casey and Aria soon rushed toward it with me and Mattie being left behind and walking. They didn't seem to notice that they left us behind as we approached and I enjoyed the quiet with Mattie.

_I promised all of them that I'd play for them tonight, I'd better get ready for that… but something still felt off, like something bad was going to happen soon…_

**Maxie's Point of View:**

I'd had a group of my men watch Team Aqua's short takeover of the weather institute and how the girl and her group of friends had taken then out in such a short time, even with Shelly personally leading the operation. It was horrible to see that we would also not be able to get any of the information that we required, or find a better location where Groudon could be hidden, but there was no helping it. A member of the IPHP League would be sent there soon enough to secure it and keep the place safe. We would be unable to use it…

I slammed my fist against my desk and it startled my second in command, my wife, Courtney. She looked nervously at me before she looked back up to the screen that we had displayed with the four children's pictures from where we saw them at Mt. Chimney, right above where our base was located.

With the pictures we recovered, we found the three friends of the girl easily enough. Aria Charolette from Rustboro. She had five badges and lived with her family of three, her father, Clark Charolette, at age forty, and her two older brothers that were a set of twins, Maxwell and Michael Charolette, both of them nineteen. Her pokemon team consisted of a sceptile, a metang, a loudred, a lairon, and a bagon.

Casey Birch from Littleroot Town. He had five badges and lived with his family of three, his father Professor Richard Birch, of thirty-five, his mother, Eliza Birch, of thirty-three, and his little sister Cecilia, of age eight. His pokemon team consisted of a swampert, a nincada, and a ludicolo.

Matthew Ashling from Petalburg, though he was temporarily staying with other related members of his family in Verdanturf. He had five badges and his parents in Petalburg are Albert Ashling of age forty and Cindy Ashling of age thirty-six. His uncle in Verdanturf was Gary Jones of forty-five with his wife Lucy Jones of forty. They have one daughter named Mary Jones, age sixteen, and her boyfriend also stays there with them, Dustin Grey, age eighteen. His pokemon team consisted of a gardevoir named Guardian, a delcatty named Luna, a roselia named Roza, a swablu named Kaida and a lileep named Corra.

The girl was the last of them that we just couldn't find any information on. Her picture just wasn't matching with anything in the database that we had on all trainers. We searched for hours, waiting in my office before we finally heard a beep and I jumped to see the screen that was filled with her picture. Jezebel Emery-Twain. She had five badges and lived with her father in Petalburg, Norman Twain, age thirty-eight and a gym leader. Her mother lives in Littleroot Town who she lived with all up until half a year ago, Brittany Emery-Twain, age thirty-five.

"No… it can't be!" Courtney slowly stepped up next to me and took hold of my arm while my gaze and hers were glued to the screen. "There must be some mistake!"

"There… there's no way she's our niece…" I shook my head and threw one of the closest things near me, a small paper weight that was a rock, at the door. Once the sound hit, another admin rushed in and stood at attention before us.

"Sir-" they hardly got out a word before I glared at them and slammed down my fist with all the rage in my being.

"Run that test again!" I pointed my finger up at the screen where that girl's face was and my niece's name attached. "Find out who she really is even if it takes forever! She is not my niece!"

**Razi's Point of View: **

While the other admins went crazy following Maxie's orders, I snuck away in the confusion to a storage room in the back and pulled out my small device I had stashed in my uniform to call my sister. Within a few seconds of me hitting one of the buttons, her image appeared on the black screen with her in her Team Aqua outfit.

"_What's the situation, Razi?_" she was quick to ask me.

"Better for us then we thought Sis." I grinned at her. "More members joined our group today and Maxie's going crazy over this bitch that keeps getting in his and Archie's way. Apparently he found out her identity, but doesn't believe the findings. Neither does Admin Courtney."

"_It's most likely due to the fact that their mystery girl __**is**__ in fact their niece. I did a bit of research to find out who she is, and she really is going to be a powerful foe, but Violet's got an iron gate surrounding that girl while she gets stronger…_" My sister hissed. "_If we don't take her out soon, that girl is going to become just like Violet and Gwyn!_"

"So what do you want me to do Sis?"

"_They don't know you as well as the world and Violet knows me. You'll be the one to take her out._" She pressed a button on her side and a map appeared before me, a glowing spot appeared on Mr. Pyre. "_Here's the best location to take her out, during the confusion of the dual takeover of Team Aqua and Team Magma. You should easily be able to kill her, and we'd best do it before she ripens, Razi, or else we'll have another powerhouse to deal with._" My sister glared through the screen. "_And then after that, it should be all clear with that brat and her friends out of the way to get Kyogre and Groudon._"

"Understood. I'll get right on it, Sis." I ended the connection with her there and pulled my hood back over my head before heading out of the room and moving about the busy hallways. I had a lot of work to do, and little time to do it. The girl was only a short distance away, in Fortree City.

We didn't have much time left.

**Witch's Note:**

**Yahoo! Another one done and more drama to it! What did you all think of the character changes in Aria and Casey? Do they really like each other, or is it a fling? Does Casey share the same feelings Aria has for him? Well, find out more next time!**

**So as always everyone, I would really appreciate a Review and some Questions for the Q's &amp; A's chapter at the end of this story!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	17. A Battle in the Sky

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 17: Battle in the Sky_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

We arrived in Fortree late that night, which was a couple days ago now. Since we got here, we were taking a bit of a break and training a bit more with our pokemon before battling the gym. Mattie felt like he should be at a certain level, and so did Aria, so I trained with them when I got the chance while Casey went through all our pokedex and transferred information that we all collected for him and his father.

We also took the break so Mattie and I could keep an eye on Aria and Casey. For the time being, it seemed that the two of them had put off all their fighting and talking in general while they were here with us, but when they were on their own, or thought they were, it seemed that the two of them were trying to get along. A few close-to-explosions came, but the two of them kept their cool and left before anything over the top could take place.

It was early in the morning now. Mattie and I had gotten up especially early to give the two of them extra time to sleep while Mattie and I took care of our gym battles first and would let the two of them argue or talk things out about who would battle the gym leader first after us, or _other_ things, while we were gone. He and I took off at about seven, which felt very early to us, but, ignoring the stiff muscles, I walked through the city with Mattie on the way to the gym, looking through my last home town.

I almost found it humorous to look at this place, being the last place I lived before I left my mother. The only connection I had to this place was the beautiful trees they had here that went high up into the sky. Watching them tower over us and seeing the homes that were there as well was amazing. I used to jump through them all the time as I escaped my mother and her home she had on the ground. I remember that she'd caught me a time or two and it was hard for her to keep a grip on me.

I also remembered that my old home was on the way to the gym here in the city. I huffed when I saw that there was a new family in the home I was in. I could see a woman working on a garden in the front of it while the husband was taking care of the lawn. The woman would ever so often look back to her little boy that was next to her. It saddened me to see the happy family living there where all I did when I lived in the highest room was emit negative emotions all around me. It wasn't the fact that I hated it here, but I hated my mother…

"Jezebel, w-we're here." Mattie shook me from my thoughts and allowed me to look up at the building before us. It was Winona's gym- Winona Gale. She was a flying type trainer that had many different types of flying pokemon to make her a difficult opponent for most, but hearing things like that excited me and took my mind off of the daunting feeling I had in my gut. "Would y-you like to go first?"

"Are you sure, Mattie?" I blinked at him. "I can wait."

"N-no… it's okay." He gestured for me to move before him and opened the door for me. I smiled at his kind gesture and nodded before I walked inside. I heard Mattie walk in behind me and close the door before we ended up inside a gym that actually had a roof. I was shocked. In the past I'd snuck out of my home and watched Winona have air battles with trainers right over her gym all the time. I thought she had no roof…

"Well, hello there. I see I have a set of challengers." I blinked in surprise that I saw no one before me and looked around to any dark corner to find the woman's voice I could hear. "Up here you two."

I lifted my head up to look above toward the lights. On a platform that was raised into the air there was the gym leader I'd seen for the past year. Winona Gale stood atop the platform in a thick, long sleeved jacket that was darker around her body area with a color of pale greenish blue, but got lighter on the sleeves to white. It also stretched over her legs to her thighs. She had on white stockings that covered her legs all the way up to her jacket and she had on boots the same color as her jacket. A cap of the same color for flyers was on her head and bright purple hair flew out from under it. Her eyes were narrow, so it was hard to see the color, but they seemed a bit darker in color.

"So who is battling me first?" She grinned down at the two of us as she sat down and allowed her legs to swing over the ledge. The older woman seemed to have no fear of the sky, as would be implied from her name and profession.

"I am." I stepped forward into the light and she jumped to her feet when she saw me.

"Jezebel Emery-Twain! I've been looking forward to battling you!" She pulled out a pokeball and held it behind her back, not releasing the pokemon inside, before she leaned over the ledge and smiled at me. "Step on the platform that's on the other side of the gym, across from me, and meet me up in the air!"

_Join her in the air? Is this how she battles most of her trainers?_ I turned around and saw an indentation in the gym ground on the opposite side of the gym and I walked over and stood on it before I felt it shake from underneath me.

"Jezebel!" Mattie cried out as he rushed over to me and helped me stay on my feet as we were both thrown into the air on the platform. I also saw the ceiling moving above us and watched as it opened up to the lightly cool air on my skin. Being so far up, it felt a lot cooler than below the thick trees that surround this place.

"I fight in the air, so let's see how you do!" Winona pulled out her pokemon from behind her back and threw it out. "Let's go, Tropius!"

A pokemon that was extremely large in size and seemed more likely to be on the ground rather than the air suddenly appeared in the air. Its wings were made of four giant leaves that were attached to the back of its body while its body actually resembled that of a four-legged creature with a long neck. Its body was mostly brown with leaves covering the base of its neck and head, like a bonnet, and bananas hanging from the underside of its neck. This pokemon was very common in this area, so it was obvious that it would be on Winona's team.

"Well, let's see how you handle my pokemon!" I threw out my luxury ball. "Let's go, Acey!"

"Gra!" She flew out of her pokeball and hung in the air as she looked at the tropius that she was to face.

"First move to the challenger." Winona gestured to me.

"First mistake to the gym leader." I grinned while her eyes widened at me. "Flamethrower, Acey!"

**Casey's Point of View:**

I sighed as I sat down at the counter of the pokemon center. Once again, Jez and Mattie had left Aria and I in the dust while they hurried off to have their gym battles. I don't honestly blame them. Aria and I slept in too long anyway, and they didn't have to wait for us. It would be easier for us all to leave town when we all finished, so making it easier by going at different times in pairs worked out great. I'd yet to see Aria, but Jez had been kind enough to leave a note.

Something had been bothering me a lot lately. It drove me nuts when Mattie asked me if I like Aria, because he was entirely right. I've been lying to myself for the longest time. I've always liked Aria. From the first second I saw her, I just wanted her to be impressed with me -with who I was or what I knew- so she would like me. But when she blew me off, right off the bat, it really hurt. Other than Jez, Aria was the only other girl, that wasn't a family member, that I cared about or liked. With Aria… things were different, more exciting, more adventurous, and definitely wilder (from her attitude and how things worked out, that is).

As much as Aria and I would argue or fight, I really cared about her, but my pride and my worries for Jez got in the way. I had no romantic feelings for Jez- she was more like a sister to me than anything- but that didn't mean that I didn't care about her, and that was another reason that kept me from talking things over with Aria. I wanted to help Jez settle things out with her families first before I began something, or _tried_ to begin something, with Aria. We'd been very edgy lately, so it was hard to tell or understand.

"Good morning." Speaking of the girl, she appeared in the doorway while rubbing her tired eyes. She looked like another couple hours of sleep were needed, but she brushed it off anyway and came down for some food. "Can I have some coffee?"

"Should you really be having that?" A tired thirteen year old girl and coffee didn't sound like a good mix, not to mention that Aria could have a lot of energy in a day. I didn't want to make that worse on anyone with her drinking coffee.

"Fine… tea then? Honey mago berry, please?"

"Sure." The girl sat across from me at the table I was at in the café and slumped in her chair. When a waitress came over for an order from her, I put it in while Aria relaxed and tried to wake up. "You don't look like you got enough sleep. Did something happen last night?"

She sighed. "No, a few things have been bothering me since just before we came here. I talked them over a bit with Jez… but…"

"But what?"

"But… Jez told me I should wait before I talk to you about it…"

"Talk to me about it?" I blinked at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Wait!" She gasped. "I didn't mean to say that!"

"Aria… don't tell me…" _Did she… feel… the same… way?_

"No!" She cried out and brought her knees to her chest. "No, I'm not ready for this! Jez never told me if she found out!"

"Found out what?" I was nearly yelling over her trying to get her to talk to me.

"_That I liked you, damn it!_" She screeched out at me. She heaved heavily after the words left her mouth and she threw her head back into her knees that hid her face from me.

"Aria…" I jumped from my seat and ran around the table to her. "Really? You like me?"

"Don't… don't make me repeat it…" She was sobbing behind the veil of her bright red hair and her legs that stood in the way of allowing me to see her lime green orbs for eyes.

I quickly brought her body into my arms and I couldn't help the grin that came on my face. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear that from you…"

She shot up in my arms and her eyes looked wildly at me. "What?"

"I… uh…" I pulled back from her a bit and rubbed the back of my head nervously. "I've always liked you Aria… but I was too prideful and stupid to actually say it. I thought you were amazing the first time I saw you back in Rustboro, when you stood up to Team Aqua, and all this time I've admired the courage you've shown and the power you have, and the desire for your dream." I lowered my head. "I thought the only way to talk to you was to argue with you. You would tease me and for a time, I enjoyed it because it meant I could talk to you, but what our arguments got really bad… I was worried you'd never talk to me again… but at the same time… I was-"

"Too prideful." She smiled at me. "I think I was, too. I was so worried after our last fight that you'd never talk to me again-"

"Hey." I set my hand on her knee. "There's no way you could get me to stop talking to you. I may get mad during some of our arguments, and we'll probably still have some from time to time, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be running away from you."

"Really?" I watched the lime colored eyes sparkle at me in relief.

"You know it Charolette." She blinked at me before she snorted and hit my shoulder.

"All right Birch… but…" her eyes sifted down as she released her legs and took my hand in hers. "What about Jez and Mattie? I know that they were trying to help us out with this… but there's still the problem with Jez's family."

"I don't think that it's right to hide it from them; we should tell them when we meet up with them next."

"So when we head over to the gym, then? I'm sure Jez is battling first and then Mattie."

"Great. That's just enough time for us to finish up breakfast and then head over."

"Sounds good to me." Aria whipped her head around and looked for the waitress and found her on the other side of the room. "Waitress! Coffee to go, please!"

I huffed. "Aria!"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

"Swellow! Hang in there!" Winona called out to her flying type that was desperately trying to avoid the swirling vortex of the sandstorm that was taking over the battlefield. In the short time that I'd been here, with the fire moves that Acey had learned as well as the ground moves, the tropius went down quickly. Winona had then called out another bird pokemon, a swellow, which was a large black bird with a white underbelly and red accents on its legs, feathers, neck and face. The flying type was hit with my sandstorm and was thrown inside and pounded with millions of particles of dust, dirt and rocks.

"Finish it off, Acey! Use dragonbreath!" My ground and dragon type grinned and released an attack that hit the vortex, which took the attack into itself and mixed itself with the attack. I could hear the cries of the flying type as it was harshly hit with a combination of ground and dragon type moves and was thrown to the ground when the storm closed in around it and shattered. The bird's body left an indent in the ground when the two collided, and the bird pokemon could not get up after that. Swirls covered its eyes as it lay still, there on the ground.

"Swellow!" Winona gasped in shock, but then sighed and pulled out her pokeball. "You did amazing out there; take a good rest." She returned the pokemon and added the ball back to her belt before she pulled out another one. "It's been a while since I've had such an overwhelming battle, Jezebel. I'm glad there are still people in this world like you to show me how much more I can still learn and how much stronger I know I can become and reach toward a goal." She enlarged the pokeball and threw it out. "But that doesn't mean that I plan to just hand over my badge to you here and now, so let's get back to our battle. Let's go, Skarmory!"

An iron bird with razor sharp wings then appeared on the field. It screeched out and flew through the air at an incredible speed. It reminded me of the few I saw back on the soot route, route one-hundred and thirteen. When I was looking for a perfect tree to knock for ash, I was trying to avoid those predatory and devilish birds. They did not look friendly at the time, nor did this one during my battle with Winona.

"All right, Acey! Let's start out with flamethrower!" My dragon and ground type released a beam of fire from her mouth toward the bird who easily dodged it and escaped into the air above. I normally would have started out with a sandstorm or something to trap my opponent's pokemon, but this was a steel type pokemon I was facing off against; the storm wouldn't do any damage and the skarmory could cut right through it with its razor-like blades for wings.

"You're going to have to be faster than that in order to stop my skarmory!" Winona laughed as she saw she finally had an edge in this battle. Acey wasn't the fastest right now with her only being in her first evolution. The great speed would come when she evolved. For the time being, she had to deal with what she had. "Now Skarmory! Use steel wing!"

The metal bird took that moment to gather energy in its wings as they had turned a glowing metallic color before it leapt at my pokemon.

"Acey! Dive!" My dragon circled in the air before diving down to the ground with a push and was aimed right at the ground while the skarmory was right behind her. I grinned when I finally figured out how to hit it, using its speed against it to slow it down and hurt it. "Now dig!"

Acey dug as fast as she could as soon as her body hit the ground, the small hole. The skarmory freaked as it couldn't stop itself in time before it slammed its head and upper body into the small hole that Acey had made. With its wings partly caught in the ground as well, only its legs could try and pull it out, but that wasn't working for it at the time.

"No! Skarmory!" Winona cried out. "Come on! I know you can pull yourself out of that!"

"I'm not about to give you the chance to do that!" Acey popped out of the ground a few feet away from the other pokemon and grinned along with me. "Acey! Use flamethrower down the hole! Barbeque that bird pokemon!"

Acey did just so and I saw her laughing while she unleashed fire from the pit of her belly. I suddenly saw the ground around the skarmory's head get red as it panicked and tried even harder to pull out and away from the fire. Suddenly the ground came loose and the skarmory was thrown into the air from the blast. Its head was entirely burned black and it stiffly tried to move its wings, and just barely was able to catch some wind under its wings to slow itself down and hover in the air.

"And finish it off Acey! Use dragonbreath!"

She did just so, releasing the powerful black, purple and red attack at the pokemon sitting in the air. The skarmory could hardly move and was hit with the attack head on. A blast of smoke suddenly appeared around it and the skarmory fell to the ground, covered in thick ashes, black in color.

"Skarmory!" Winona looked down at her pokemon in surprise that it had lost so quickly before she looked back at me. "Incredible… you certainly are Norman's daughter." She returned her pokemon and pulled out her final pokeball. "Now it's time for my final pokemon, I hope your little dragon there can handle my own."

_Her own?_ I blinked at her wildly as she threw out her last pokeball. From it came a creature that was the same colors as Kaida, Mattie's swablu. It was much larger in size, though, and its wings looked exactly like clouds with a sky blue body that was almost eight feet tall with a long neck giving much of that height. Its wings also carried the white fluff around the center of its body. Its large black eyes looked down at Acey.

"Jezebel! That's the evolved form of Kaida!" I turned back to see Casey and Aria shockingly here already with Mattie in the stands. "It's an altaria! It's a flying and dragon type! Be careful!"

"Altaria…?" I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the fluffy pokemon. _Altaria, the humming pokemon and the evolved form of swablu. It hums in a beautiful soprano voice. If you hear a beautiful melody trilling deep among mountains far from people, it is altaria's humming. It flies among white clouds in the blue sky. It launches intensely hot fireballs from its mouth. Altaria nests are exceedingly rare and have only been noted on a secluded island where the Sky Pillar is located._

_Damn it… it's another dragon type… meaning dragon moves will be super effective to each of us_! _I would have to take a new approach to this battle to make sure Acey could make it through; she's already battled another three pokemon before this one. She was getting tired._ I looked out to the field before me and watched my ground and dragon type pokemon. She was breathing heavily, but she still held her ground as she glared up at the altaria that she had to face.

_Acey's running out of time; she won't be able to last much longer. This is going to be her final battle with the gym leader. And since this pokemon is also a dragon type, it'll be able to perform the same types of moves that Acey will know due to that dragon trait and probably more. Acey is at an __**extreme**__ disadvantage when it comes to ice type moves or ice types. _

"Alright Acey! Let's start out with sandstorm!" It was one of the only moves that would affect the other pokemon and not us without that altaria spitting it back at us. Acey threw up her wings and the dirt and dust came with it as it flew in the air around the altaria, which didn't seem to like the attack.

"Altaria! Fly right out of it and hit that pokemon with wing attack!" A sudden glowing appeared inside the vortex. A hole opened in its side and the altaria came flying at Acey; it was free of the attack. Acey just barely had enough time to dive out of the way and fly back toward me for orders.

"Acey! Dive!"

"Not this time, Jezebel!" Winona's altaria suddenly was in Acey's way and her bird slammed its wings into Acey. My eyes widened as I watched her fall from the attack.

"Acey! Hang in there! Don't give up yet!" I felt my heart beating itself into a frenzy as I watched her. "I know you can do it!"

"Vib!" Her eyes suddenly shot open and her wings started back up just before she hit the ground and curved her body to shoot back upward at the altaria.

"Now, Acey! Use flamethrower!" From her mouth shot up a beam of fire that hit the flying and dragon type pokemon head on.

"Altaria! Fire back with ice beam!" The bird shook off the fire and only a small bit of its wings looked singed before it fired a beam of ice crystals at my pokemon.

"Counter with flamethrower!" Another beam of fire came out of her mouth and the two attacks hit head on. From the center of the blast, I saw water dripping down to the bottom of the ground.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Winona hissed. "Altaria! Use dragonbreath!"

"You use dragonbreath too, Acey!" The two of them flew around in a circle after their attacks ended and sucked in another deep breath before letting out another pair of attacks that hit each other. The two blasts exploded and the two bodies were sent flying away from each other.

"Acey! Come on, girl!" I saw her body fly back and her wings were beating like crazy before she stopped the force on her body and flew back up while the altaria was thrown into a wall and then fell.

"Altaria!" Winona called out.

"Now Acey! Use sandstorm!" Acey threw up her wings and with them came the storm once more around the fallen pokemon from the explosion.

"That won't stop us!" Winona turned back to her pokemon. "Come on, Altaria! Let's go!"

The pokemon let out a high-pitched screech and flew up into the storm, not afraid.

"Now Acey! Use dragonbreath on the sandstorm!" She shot her darkly colored breath at the sandstorm where it was incorporated into the storm and swirled around the pokemon. The altaria cried out as the air closed in on it and it wasn't able to escape since it was extremely at a disadvantage to the attack, and the storm was even more powerful since another attack was being used to amplify it.

"Altaria!"

"Now finish it off!" The sandstorm closed in and the Altaria was just barely flying as the storm was finally gone and it was covered in wounds. "Acey! Take it down with-"

"Stop!" My command was halted when Winona stopped the battle. "I concede, Jezebel; my pokemon can hardly stand; please hold off your attack." I held my tongue as Winona called back over her pokemon and allowed it to land next to her where she took its head into her arms and whispered to it.

I called Acey back over to me and she landed on my outstretched arm before I hugged her and gave her body a break. "You were amazing, Acey; I'm sorry for pushing you so hard. Thanks for all your help."

She nodded to me and seemed to have no problem with the battle. She was honestly in a chirpy mood and crawled over my shoulder where she wanted to stay while we were lowered to the ground to talk to Winona. The woman had returned her pokemon and walked over to where Mattie and I were.

"Jezebel, you gave me an outstanding match. I loved every second of it and I'm very proud to give you my badge." She held it out in her hand and I reached out to grab it, but then she closed her hand. "But I need to say something to you first- something that bothered me a little bit in our battle."

"What do you mean?" I pulled back my hand toward me and petted the top of Acey's head, which she cooed at. Winona smiled at her before she looked back at me worriedly.

"You pushed your pokemon extremely hard in this battle. The only thing I want to say to you is that you need to be more careful about how hard you push them; it all depends on the situation. I just want you to be aware of that so you don't push your pokemon so far, because I know you love them, and it would kill you if they got really hurt because of you." She re-opened her hand. "I've heard from your father that things have been hard on you in the past; just try not to take it out on your pokemon."

"I won't take it out on them, but thank you for the advice anyway. It's good to hear things like that every now and then." I reached forward again and took the badge from her hand, which she didn't prevent me from receiving. It was a light blue color with a silver edging and it was shaped like a wing.

"My badge is called the feather badge." I took care of my new badge and took the hand of Winona that she held out for me. "I hope you become much stronger and that I may have a chance to battle you again." She then turned to Mattie. "And now I need to heal up my pokemon so that I may battle you next. Is it safe to assume that you're Matthew Ashling?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Mattie was so startled that he fell over from the surprise. I couldn't help but giggle at him. I held out my hand for the boy and pulled him back to his feet.

"Do your best, Mattie." He swallowed an apparent hard lump in his throat before he nodded to me.

I suddenly heard a door open and we all turned to watch as Aria and Casey walked into the gym. I was shocked to see the two of them holding hands as they walked in.

"About time, you two." I grinned at them. "For your battle and this."

"Careful, Jez." I blinked at Casey as he sighed and hit his head with his free hand. I then suddenly noticed that there was a cup of coffee in Aria's hand. "Aria's on caffeine high."

"So what?" The girl almost squealed in glee as she jumped in her place. Casey could only sigh as he let her have her fun. "So who's battling next? I want to battle the gym leader soon!"

"You can right after Mattie, Aria." Casey shrugged as he pulled the girl over to the stands. "I'll go last."

"S-so can w-we as-ssume that y-you two a-are toget-ther?" Mattie took his time spitting out that sentence and I was hanging on the end of my spot, waiting to hear what they had decided between them.

"You can!" Aria just could not sit still as she finished off the last of her coffee and threw the plastic container into the trash can to her side. "I'm so glad that we don't have to worry about that anymore; now finish up your battle, Mattie! I wanna battle!"

"Aria, calm down!"

While Casey dealt with a crazy Aria on a caffeine high, I turned back to Mattie and kissed his cheek.

"Good luck, Mattie."

"T-thanks…"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It took Mattie not much longer than it had myself to finish off his gym battle. Aria followed soon after him and then Casey. All of my friends were able to get their badges and as the sun was starting to fall down in the later afternoon, we headed out onto route one-twenty and one-twenty-one to try and make our way toward Lilycove before it got too dark out, and if we didn't manage to make it, we had plans to make camp.

It reminded me of a long time ago when I was on this route, and I was about eleven, when I journeyed to Mt. Pyre and met one of my other good friends that I planned to add to my team. With it getting as dark as it was, I was worried that I wasn't going to get my friend from Mt. Pyre. I told the others of this, and they agreed to stick around by the northern entrance that was still attached to the main land (since Mt. Pyre was a mountain where dead people and pokemon were buried and was also surrounded by water from the ocean) and I would call out for my friend. If he didn't show up, then I'd have to come back another time and get him.

By the time it was almost nine at night, we had made it to the ideal spot where I was going to call out for my old friend. Aria had crashed from her caffeine high and Casey was forced to carry her in his arms. He was also taking a break from that when we got here. Aria had never woken up by any noise we made; she was just out of it. Mattie was also taking a break; he had a bit of a hard time in the last battle due to his disadvantage to the flying type gym leader. Kaida was the pokemon that battled the hardest and managed to evolve because of it, into the very pokemon she had to face, an altaria. He and his team was worn out and he was really lacking in energy.

"Darkness!" I called out for the umpteenth time during the last half hour. It was starting to get really late and Casey was starting to get worried.

"Jez, I know you want to get your friend, but maybe you should wait until tomorrow." Casey got up and was quick to grab Aria into his arms again. "You can stay out here a bit longer if you want, but I'm taking Aria into town and getting us a room to share." He turned to Mattie. "You coming Matt?"

"I'll stay out here a little longer, just so Jezebel isn't by herself." He groaned as he shifted his back against the log he was leaning against. "I don't think I have enough energy to get back by myself, so I'll need her help. I don't think you have another arm for me."

Casey snorted. "No, not really." He nodded to us. "I'll see you two in town; I'll rent a room out for all of us."

He trudged off with Aria in his arms and headed toward town with a yawn ringing out of his mouth before he disappeared. When the two of them were gone, Mattie turned to me.

"So… what exactly i-is Darkness like?"

"He's a playful type, and a ghost pokemon. I met him about two years ago when I journeyed to the top of the mountain…"

_**Jezebel's Memory (Still Her Point of View):**_

_I'd once again escaped the grip of my mother and hurried over to Mt. Pyre, the mountain where the dead are buried. It's inhabited by ghost pokemon of this region known as shuppet and duskull. They tend to love playing tricks on the poor souls that come here to pray for their loved ones that had passed on. I had a few family members here, my great-grandparents and grandparents and such, but no one that truly compelled me to be here other than the thrill of the ghost pokemon. _

_It was amazing to watch them; whether they were bothering the people here or just mingling about, they were so cool looking that I found myself lost at looking at a duskull that I'd seen a few times. it loved to bother people and make funny faces at them. It seemed to be cheering up, or trying to, those that seemed to have lost someone here. That duskull would wait until they were alone and then come out to play. It would make the sobbing children laugh and the adults chuckle at its methods to try and help them move past the grieving. _

…_Although, some people didn't see it that way. Some would be so wound up in their sorrow that they would physically __**attack**__ the humorous pokemon that they thought was making a light joke of their deceased. Regardless of those few people that did that, the duskull remained vigilant and kept up its good deeds. _

_On many occasions I tried to place myself in the same situation to get the duskull to do the same to me, I wanted to meet it and introduce myself like I had many times before to all my other pokemon that I'd met in the past since I was six. This pokemon, however, was crafty and managed to avoid me all the time and never came close to me once. It bothered the hell out of me, but I would still watch it when it helped grieving families, and I didn't have the heart to disrupt it from the good it was performing. _

_I remember going over to the mountain one day and it was actually empty. There were no grieving families at all, not even a single ghost pokemon hovering in the air. It was extremely creepy and I felt chills running up every inch of my body as I traveled to my normal floor to observe the pokemon, or see if they were actually here. _

_Walking up the stairs, I felt an eerie feeling overtake me and I felt my body stop breathing when I felt something pass over the skin of my back leg. I tried to calm myself down since I knew this was a normal thing. Ghost pokemon were always trying to play or scare us; at least, that's what they did to me most often, so there was nothing to worry about. I shook my head after that and walked over in the direction of the next set of stairs that led past all the graves to the peak of the mountain. _

_Once I was outside and on top of the mountain, I felt almost at ease; the mountain's heavy atmosphere of silence was something I was not used to. I was used to hearing the sobs of those mourning. I was used to hearing the screeching or laughter of those affected by the ghost pokemon that haunt this place… but this, was just __**abnormal**__… and it bothered me._

_"Dusk?" I gasped and whipped my head around to see the very duskull that I'd been watching all this time floating around my head. It stopped before me and looked at me with its single red eye that floated between the two eye sockets in the skull it had for a face, and then the grey cloak that covered its body flowed behind it in the breeze. It tilted its head at me and I sighed in relief. _

_"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am that it's you who surprised me, and not one of the other pokemon or ghosts here." I placed a hand over my heart to help calm it. It was still beating painfully fast. I'm sure the entire mountain of ghost pokemon could hear it and I was shocked that they hadn't all flocked at me yet for some mischief. _

_"Dusk duskull dusk?" It tilted its head in the other direction as it still looked right at my face. _

_"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you at all, but I tend to come here to escape my mother. She's a control freak that just won't leave me alone at times." I sighed and stretched. "I've seen you lots of times and how you try to help those families out. It's really cool that you do that."_

_"Dusk!" The ghost pokemon laughed and rubbed a cloth like hand next to its skull face. It floated around me before it stopped with its back turned before it turned back around with a funny face and a long whip like tongue that was wiggling about. I couldn't help but let out a laugh as it changed its face and continued to move around me and kept me laughing for the longest time until my sides hurt and tears were slipping from the corners of my eyes. _

_"Okay! Okay, please stop! My insides are going to burst from all this laughing!" The pokemon complied and discontinued its fun before it let me calm down and wipe away the salty water on my cheeks. I then held out my hand for it. "Hi, I'm Jezebel."_

_"Dusk? Dusk dusk duskull!" It introduced himself as a male duskull._

_"You know, with all the helping out you do for people here, you should have a name."_

_"Dusk?"_

_"Yeah, I would call you 'darkness', because of the meaning behind it. People think that death is the end of the world and so horrible, but in all reality, it's just another step of life, and you try to help them see that. Even though you live in such a dark and depressing area, there's still a light in the darkness, the laughter that you try and pull out of them to help ease the pain."_

_"Dusk! Duskull skull dusk!"_

_"That name is all yours then, Darkness."_

_"Jezebel!" I screeched on the inside as I heard my mother's voice and I jumped to my feet to look to where she was. That damn woman always had some sort of internal tracking device for me inside her brain. She'd made it outside to the mountain's peak._

_"Shit!" I turned to Darkness. "You better hurry and get out of here before she sees you; she'll turn you into a punching bag! She's after me to take me back home!"_

_"Dusk!" Darkness quickly took hold of the back of my shirt and pulled, pulling me up into the air with him, above my mother's line of vision. I kept silent as he lifted us higher into the air and behind the clouds where she wouldn't see us. _

_"Thanks Darkness…" I sighed before I giggled up at him. "She's going to be so pissed at me when I get home, but oh well… Hey!" I had to hold in my laughter. "We should phase through the walls of the mountain and confuse her! It'll be like a big game of hide-and-go-seek! What do you think?"_

_"Dusk!" He nodded his little skull like head, and when my mother wasn't looking, he dived and brought us back to our original hiding spot (of course where my mother had already looked) and his eye glowed as he pulled me through the ground down to the level inside the mountain below us. I laughed softly behind my hand and Darkness released me for the time being to float next to my head. _

_"Let's go to the bottom floor and then climb up the other side of the mountain; it'll drive her nuts!" The ghost pokemon easily nodded his head and we took off while my mother was left to seek us inside the mountain of the dead. _

**Present (Still Jezebel's Point of View):**

"And that's how most of our days were spent, really. Darkness and I ended up spending a lot of time actually playing hide and go seek with my mother, and her never finding us. I would, of course, go home when it got really late so she wouldn't call the cops or something, but every now and then, I'd stay the night there, and with Darkness at my side, he kept me safe from the other ghost type pokemon or ghosts in general that lived there." I sighed. "But like all the others, I promised him that I'd come back and add him to my pokemon team so we could be together forever, just like we'd all planned."

"Oh… wow…." Mattie was once again stunned by another story of my past as I explained and I finally sat down on the ground.

"But I'm exhausted… I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…" I collapsed on the ground. "I don't know if I'm going to have enough energy to help you back at this rate."

"S-should I call Casey?"

"You might-" I was cut off when I felt something moving next to me. I looked to my side and saw a small cloth covered pokemon with a skull for a face. A duskull. It was rummaging through my bag. "Hey!"

"Skull!" The pokemon threw its body backwards and quickly ran away from me. I snorted and felt the hot air leave my nostrils, feeling like flames were in my nose.

"W-what was t-that?"

"A duskull, but not Darkness. A petty little shout like that wouldn't have bothered him." I sighed and walked over to the boy. "Come on Mattie, I'll come back tomorrow."

"A-are you sure, Jez…"

"Yeah…" With a heavy heart, I pulled Mattie's arm over my shoulder. "Darkness probably was too busy helping out others in the mountain to hear me."

"Dusk?" I stopped and turned around to look at the area. The water was the only thing I could hear as it flowed toward the openings that led to the ocean. Nothing was left in the dark area, and even the trees and path were hard to make out, all except for the busy city off in the distance of a mile or two.

"Darkness?" I glanced around for him anywhere; a slight bit of hope had nestled into my heart. "It's me, Jezebel!"

"Dusk!" From the dark a duskull suddenly appeared and floated right into my chest. The single eye, which looked from behind the skull, glanced up at me before it grinned.

"Darkness! It is you!" I hugged him with the single arm I had open now and he phased through my arm and stood up before me. "I've been calling to you for hours! Where have you been?"

"Dusk?" He only shrugged using his little cloth to look like he had shoulders before his gaze was captured by my bag. He tilted his head and floated down to it.

"I think I know what you want." I gently set down Mattie and opened up my bag and pulled out the reaper cloth that had been my gift from Casey at Christmas. The single eye from behind that skull was glued to the item in my hands. I couldn't help but chuckle. "Another duskull had been after it too, right before you showed up. And it's all yours buddy." I handed it to my little ghost pokemon and I swear I heard the ghost squeal as he took the cloth into his arms. He then lifted his skull just a smidgen higher than normal to hide the item behind his skull and inside his body. "So are you ready to be a part of the team, Darkness? I'm finally free from my mother."

"Duskull dusk!" He nodded and I pulled out another item from my bag. This time, it was a pokeball that was a bright green color with black lines cutting off those green sections into circles and a bright orange line around the center with an orange button on the front. Darkness tapped his head on the top of the dusk ball and was pulled inside and the device shook before it settled in my palm and I looked over at Mattie.

"Let's get going. It's really late as it is. I'll have everyone meet Darkness in the morning." He nodded and I helped him back up and took his arm over my shoulder again before we walked over to the next town to meet up with the others.

**Witch's Note:**

**All right. You know, this is the first ghost type that's been on a team ever, not to mention that the main characters tend to not like ghosts too much because of Rose, so isn't it cool that we finally have one other than Tristan's gengar? I thought it was!**

**So just to let you all know, we're almost hallway through this story now! Only another couple chapters before we hit that point! This story is getting closer to being done! So while you still have the chance you should Review and send in any Questions you have!**

**I love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	18. A New Contest Queen

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 18: A New Contest Queen_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It's been a few weeks since Darkness joined my team and we made our way into Lilycove City, one of the largest cities in the entire region compared to Slateport or Rustboro. Lilycove is known for its art, ports, and most of all, contests. People who had pokemon but don't like the ways of a trainer- because battles are "too violent" or just because it's not their thing- become coordinators, and they show off their pokemon and their moves in many different ways. I'd watched a few contests in the past while my mother dragged me to and from, and I did see it as an interesting sport. It involves battling to a certain degree as a final round, which still made it where my pokemon could earn a little experience from it, and maybe it would be fun. Violet's been trying to get me to do it- I mean, after all, I have a contest case for ribbons that Aria gave me- but I guess with the fear of my uncles around after the Weather Institute…

"Oh, come on Jez! You should go try it! There's actually one that's going to be later today!" Violet was once again trying to convince me to go, and while I really wanted to, I just couldn't shake the feeling that one of my uncles was nearby and up to something.

"Violet… I want to… but-"

"No buts!" She was quick to halt my argument. "I don't care what you say; you should go do it!" She patted my hand as we sat together at the booth in the pokemon center. Our pokemon were happily eating away at the food they were given around us while talking with their new friend and brother, Darkness, my duskull.

_Duskull, the requiem pokemon. A glare from its single scarlet eye makes even burly grown-ups freeze in utter fear. It is a nocturnal pokemon that roams under the cloak of darkness. Making itself invisible, it silently sneaks up to prey. It has the ability to slip through thick walls. Duskull are quite rare and tend to only be found on Mt. Pyre's higher floors. _

"Honey, I know that you're worried about Archie and Maxie, but Alex and I are keeping our eyes out for them. You should take your friends over to the contest hall and give it a shot." She gave my hand a little shake. "Mattie's been saying how he wanted to give it a shot too, but he would only do it if you did."

"Why?"

"Probably because he's still so shy, he's afraid he can't do it without his good luck charm." She winked at me and pulled back her hand. "The contest they're having today is a double one, where two contestants work together to both earn a ribbon. You two would do amazing in the battle part with Guardian and Blade. Then during the demonstration part, you could have some sort of combination of maybe Silky or Darkness and he could use any of his pokemon. All of his pokemon seem to want to try out the appeal stage, but I think only a few of yours would be interested in it. Most, if not all of them, in my opinion, would prefer the battle half of it."

"I know…" I sighed. "Maybe I should… but I don't know the first thing about what we would do to make it through the appeal round."

"I can think of a few ideas; let's see if you can catch on." Violet grinned at me. "I've been in a few contests before, and I think once you get the hang of it, you'll be eager to keep on going with it. So first, let's think of a couple options that you could do for an appeal." She tapped her chin then. "But it would probably be better if your possible partner was here as well…"

"Possible partner?" We both raised our heads to see Alex walk down with Mattie behind him. "Vi, what are you doing this time?"

"I'm glad you had so much faith in your _girlfriend_, Alex." She huffed, but then let it slide and grinned at him before scooting over and allowing him to sit next to her. "Jez was finally starting to get into the idea of contests, but she's stumped on what she would do for an opening act."

"R-r-really?" Mattie's eyes lit up as he plopped down next to me in excitement. "J-j-Jezebel… d-do you m-mean it?"

I couldn't speak for a moment as the shy young man held my glaze with his own, the joy illuminating in his eyes. Finally I was able to nod my head to the boy and his quiet shrills began to fill the air.

"Easy there Mattie, don't bust a lung now." Violet now had her boyfriend's hand in her own while she leaned her chin against the other. "So what ideas can the two of you think of for an entrance performance to get you to the battling round?"

"That's the thing- I can't think of anything…" I sighed.

"I-I have a f-few ideas…" Mattie twiddled his fingers before him and nervously looked up at us. "N-now that you have a g-ghost pokemon on your team… we can u-use a ghost and f-fire and g-grass type combination… Like shadow ball and s-sunny day, or petal dance and n-night shade…"

"Opposites!" I cried out as the light clicked on over my head. "Light and darkness!"

"Y-yeah…" Mattie blushed and ducked his head. "N-not to mention… we could also do a small bit o-of ice and f-fire with Guardian and Blade… Guardian just learned icy wind… you could use t-thunder and f-fire punch with Blade…"

"Oh wow… you've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"Yeah… I've also thought a-about a combination of p-petal dance and s-silver wind between Silky and Roza…"

"Mattie, that's amazing!" I jumped from my seat. "I don't know if we'll win on the first try, but I think we at least have a good shot! Let's go sign up and then practice and figure out who we want to use in each round!"

"O-okay!" I pulled the boy out of his seat and we hurried over to where the door was, with our pokemon following at our heels, and headed outside where we could practice.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After Mattie and I signed up for the contest later in the day, we then spent as much time as we could over on the coast, away from most people, where we could practice without interruption. After spending a lot of time working with all our pokemon, we decided that Roza and Silky would be in the appeal round in the beginning. We managed to somehow make an appeal supporting their beautiful attacks, but then there was choosing who would do well in the battle round. In the end, it came down to Blade and Guardian who worked the best together and always did work together in battle, and they were powerful together.

We had our matches set up and planned to meet up with the others right before the contest started. We met up at a homier type of restaurant toward the entrance to the entrance of the town on the western side. Violet booked us a table for six toward the back and a good set of tables off to the side and outside for our pokemon to be able to eat as well.

"I can't believe you finally going to try out a contest, Jez!" Aria couldn't contain her excitement as she bounced in her seat and Casey tried to calm her so we wouldn't attract too much attention. "Oh, I can't wait to see you and Mattie perform! Who are you using for the two rounds?"

"But that would be telling, Aria." I snickered at the girl as she pouted at me. "Sorry, we're going to keep it a surprise from everyone until the acts."

"Bummer…" She pouted for a moment before she looked back up at me with a grin. "I hope you and Mattie win. Not just because you're my friends and everything, but I want to write one of my first official articles to mark my way to becoming a reporter! And…" She paused for a moment to look down at her hands. "And I want you and Mattie to be the first ones I interview, since I know I'll be at ease with you guys…"

"Haven't you interviewed people before, Aria?" I blinked at the girl who sat before me.

"Yes… and no." She sighed. "My mom used to give me lessons when I was young, but it's been years since then, and my brothers would allow me to interview them at home for fun, and some of my neighbors would too, but that doesn't mean I've submitted an article anywhere…"

"Well, you can always send it to the publishing company where your brothers work; the Rustboro Times is always looking for new freelance writers." Violet leaned over the table from her side and injected her two cents into the conversation.

"I would, but then the article may be emotionally biased." Aria sighed and then groaned. "I don't want my brothers to get in trouble because they want me to do well…"

"Well… what about _Lilycove's Loves_?" Casey offered.

"I would… but that's one of those sketchy companies who'll do anything to get what they want for people to see and hear."

"Okay…"

"What about _Mauville Alive_?" Alex threw out.

"No way! That one's known for being filled with liars and no one buys their papers!"

"How about _Shout Out Slateport_? _Verdanturf Ventures_?" Violet guessed.

"No… Slateport's a bit questionable and Verdanturf is too local only…"

"What about the _Sootopolis Monograph_?" Everyone looked over at me. "It's a fairly new company that's well known for its stories on important areas of the region that focus on action all over the world along with its own trainers that they meet on the road and talk to as well as higher ups like gym leaders and the Elite Four." I shrugged my shoulders. "My father was interviewed for it a few times in the past when I was living with him. When I was home for vacation, he and I actually did an interview together on how I was following a bit in my father's footsteps."

"Oh w-wow Jez!" Mattie's eyes went wide as he looked at me.

"Do you really think that I can write a good article for them?" Aria's eyes were downcast, looking toward her lap as a finally decent paper came up into conversation. "I mean, that place just seems so perfect…"

"I think you can." She jumped and looked back up at me in shock. "Besides, maybe, being the daughter of Norman, I could get a higher up to look at your paper."

"I can do that, too," Violet said as she grinned. "I know the head of the company. I did some work for him in the past that he owes me one for."

"Are you sure about that, you guys?" Aria pouted again, and I groaned.

"Would you stop that? We said it was okay." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Look, Mattie and I'll do our best to make it to the top, but in return, you write the best article you can, whether we win or not, okay?"

Aria sucked in a breath before she slowly nodded. "Okay, I will."

"Good, because it looks like it's just about time for Mattie and me to get over there." I looked up at the clock and we had to be there in about half an hour.

"Hang on there, Jez. You guys do need to dress up a little bit before going into your contest." Violet was quick to jump to her feet and stop me.

"Are you serious?" I groaned.

"Come on you, I'll help you get ready. I swear it'll take only about twenty." Violet looked at her boyfriend. "Alex! Make sure Mattie gets ready, too, and is done before I get done with Jez!"

"You better not be putting me in a dress, Violet!"

"I'm not! But I am going to make you look a little nicer than your normal self."

The woman dragged me off to the bathroom with a bag in her hands. I was planted inside the bathroom against the sink and handed the bag.

"Strip and change, girl."

I scowled.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a short while later since Violet had dragged me off to get changed. We were now on our way over to where the contest would be held over at the contest hall. She had me changed into black shorts, and a dark green skin tight, strapped shirt with a short sleeved bright green, see-through shirt placed over it. Black heels were strapped to my feet that put me off the ground by another couple of inches. Some lip gloss was added to my lips and my bandanna was removed from my head and my hair smoothed out and curled. And to my surprise, the woman had me done up in the amount of time she said I would as well as no dress or skirt.

I would have killed her if she had.

We met the others over at the contest hall when we got there. Aria and Casey already had their tickets for their seats and Alex was holding onto his and Violet's. Mattie was waiting there with the others, all dressed up a thin, long sleeved shirt that was a bright green in color with white jean pants and some black sneakers.

Mattie did a double take when he saw me. He gasped and blinked a few times when he saw the different outfit that made me stand even taller than I was before, where I was even taller than him than I was before. My hair was curled and my outfit looked… pretty… I never cared for getting dressed up much- probably the tomboy in me- but I had to say that… I did like dressing up like this. It was a nice outfit, and it wasn't a dress or skirt, so that was even better.

"W-w-w-" Mattie needed a moment to breathe as he took in my appearance. "W-wow… Jezebel… you l-look… amazing…"

I chuckled. "You look pretty handsome yourself, Mattie."

He flushed red at that and his face turned away from me. I couldn't help but feel a little flushed as well. I felt a little out of place wearing these clothes, but at the same time, they felt… right…

"All right, you two, good luck, and remember to have fun." Violet took both of our shoulders into each of her hands and gave them a squeeze. "Don't worry if you don't win; there's always a next time. We're going to go take our seats now; good luck!"

Violet then led the pack out of there and I grinned at my partner. Mattie smiled right back at me while we headed over to sit on the benches while we waited for our turn. In the meantime, the MC walked out onto the stage.

"_Welcome everyone to this week's double contest!_" The crowd's shouting could be heard over television with ease while all of us waited below for the introduction to be over with and our performances to start. "_I'm your MC, Linda R. Porter here and along with me are our six judges that were able to take time out of their busy schedules to come and watch us all perform! Of our judges that have joined us, we have the head of Rustboro's Devon Corporation, Mr. Stone!_" I could see Mr. Stone sitting at a judge's desk with a smirk on his face as he looked out to the crowd.

"_I look forward to all the appeals today. It's been quite a while since I've been out of the office and this fresh air and appeals would do me good._"

"_Well said, Mr. Stone!_" Linda jumped over to the next judge. "_Next is the group of kids who will be taking over their father's business of Glass Co.! Please give it up for Jasper, Alice and Crystal Frit!_"

The three of them waved to the camera and the audience before Jasper leaned forward before his sisters. "_We love art, you guys! So we're hoping for amazing appeals out there that look just like a piece of art would!_"

"_Yeah!_" His two younger sisters cried out next to him.

"_Next is one of our normal judges who's here all the time and judging our weekly contests! Head of the Contest Association, here's Mr. Judge!_"

An older looking man in a brown suit and a grey mustache on his face appeared. He looked quite calm in demeanor and stroked his facial hair before chuckling. "_I have a good feeling that this contest will blow us away. I'm excited to see what young, new bloods we have down below._"

"_Thank you Mr. Judge!_" Linda turned to the last judge. "_And our final judge, the woman who takes care of all your pokemon's needs and a traveler's problems on the road- here's Lilycove's own Nurse Joy!_"

The woman who's healed our pokemon a few times in this town smiled out on the stage. "_I've seen all the contestants' pokemon before the show and they all look radiant. I'm excited to see what amazing performances we get today._"

"_Well said, and now that introductions are out of the way, we should get started!_" The crowd began to cheer and I looked away from the TV to look back at Mattie. He seemed fine for the most part; a smile was even playing on his lips.

"How are you doing, Mattie?" The boy looked up at me happily and grinned.

"Excited… I-I think we're going t-to do really well J-jezebel…"

"Latias, how many people do we have to crush in this competition?" I blinked and watched as some set of girls walked into the room, dressed in some very… _revealing_ clothes (to put it nicely, even if I'd have rather spat at them) and a set of pokemon, a persian and a delcatty, walking behind them. Their noses were held high as they walked through all the groups and locked their gazes on a young girl and what looked to be her older brother that were only a few feet away from us.

"What do you think, Tia?" The older of the supposed snotty girls turned to her younger friend and she in turn grinned.

"What I see, Leena, is a set of Latias damned brats who came here in hopes of winning, but should just go running back to Momma since there's no hope of that happening here." The two girls sneered down at the little girl who was hiding behind her older brother.

"Why don't you two snobs back off?" The young man that was possibly a couple years older than us stood up before his little sister and acted as a shield for her. "You're ruining my baby sister's first chance at a contest!"

"But when do we care, Smith?" The two girls started to circle around him and his little sister grabbed onto his back in fear. "I mean… maybe if you went on a date with us… we may throw this competition for your little sister…"

"No!" The little girl cried out. "I wanna try my best and play fair and square!" She roughly pulled on her brother's shirt. "Smithy! Don't listen to them!"

"You need to learn your place, you little brat!" The older of the girl's flung their hands forward and that's when I jumped into action. I flung my body before the little girl's and grabbed the wrist of the older girl's (I think it was Leena) and halted the attack. Mattie was by my side in an instant, standing before the young man and protecting him from the younger of the girls.

"Get out of our way!" The younger one said as she threw her hand then at Mattie. His eyes went wide and suddenly a pokeball opened up and Luna appeared up on his shoulder in her wild battle like state. She hissed and yowled and the younger of the snobby girls screamed and backed up.

"Tia!" The older one rushed over to her partner and glared back at us. "Keep that rabid _thing_ in a cage where it belongs!"

"Luna doesn't b-belong in a cage!" Mattie lashed out at her and the girl stepped back, not expecting this. I crossed my arms and grinned behind him, happy to see the show of some prissy girls getting their asses handed to them. "Luna is my pokemon and was protecting me from you! You're the ones who should be locked in a cage for insulting and bullying others that come here to compete and have fun!"

"You tell 'em Mattie!" I walked up behind him and patted the shoulder that didn't have a raging Luna on it. I scowled as I looked back to the two girls. "Now beat it, bitches."

"Why you-"

"What's going on down here?" I was surprised to see the MC, Linda, come down here. "When I called the first act, no one showed up."

"Our deepest apologies, Linda, nothing was going on here." Leena sneered at me before she and her partner walked toward the MC. "We were just talking to some newbies and telling them the ropes. We'll head out for our act now." I watched as Leena gave them a look before she nodded and led them back out to the stage.

When they left, I turned back to the brother and sister that were behind us. "Hey, you two all right?"

"Yes, I believe so…" The young man took his sniveling sister into his arms and comforted her in his chest. "Sorry about them, they're just…"

"I'd say quite a few words to describe them, but your little sister's here and I don't want her to pick up my horrible habit." I smiled at the little girl, who tried her best to smile back at me, before I turned back to her older brother. "But regardless of that, I'm Jezebel, and this is my best friend and partner Mattie."

Mattie nodded and showed them a smile. "We c-couldn't just l-let them be all mean to you…"

"And I really appreciate the help." The young man held out his hand. "Name's Smith and this is my baby sister, Serena." The little girl waved at us and I couldn't help but grin.

"Well, good luck with the contest, you guys. We'll be competing for the same ribbon. Is this your first time?"

"No, not mine, but it is Serena's." Smith ruffled his little sister's hair and she pouted at him. "She always watched me when I would perform and just a few weeks ago she wanted to give it a shot. I've been giving her a few pointers for appeals and battling and today we're participating in our first contest together, to see how she does." He paused for a moment and sighed. "I just wish those bitches would just leave us alone…"

"Smithy! Bad word!" His little sister cried out and hit his chest lightly.

"Oops…" He laughed. "Sorry, little sis. I owe you a dollar, right?"

"Yep!" The little girl happily took the dollar from his hand and was happy with the compensation before we heard cheering on the screen and turned our eyes to look.

"_Sorry for the wait, folks!_" Linda happily was out on stage again with those bitches we'd run into. "_And here's our first appeal, a set of girls that we see here quite often in the field of coordination! Tia and Leena Taris!_"

"_Thanks, Linda! Let's go, Sis!_" Leena threw out her hand and the persian bound forward from behind her.

"_Right, Leena!_" Tia threw her own hand out and sent forth her delcatty. The two of them landed with grace in front of the field. "_Okay, Delcatty! Let's start off with blizzard!_"

The smaller of the catlike pokemon jumped before her other feline partner and let loose a swirl of snow from her mouth that rode on powerful winds in the center of the stage. It certainly caught the eyes of those watching them.

"_Now Persian! Use sunny day!_" Leena called out. Her pokemon jumped over the delcatty and landed at the base of the blizzard before it yowled and from above appeared a bright light in the middle of the blizzard, which I assumed was a sun. It glowed brightly above all the ice crystals in the air and caused them to glitter as they swarmed around the pokemon.

"_Incredible!_" Jasper was the first of the judges to exclaim as they watched the performance. "_It reminds me so much of a picture painted from the icy mountains of the northwest!_"

"_Wow!_" his little sisters cried out in unison.

"_I wish I could create a piece of glass that looked like that!_" Alice cried out.

"_You're not the only one, Sis!_" Crystal replied to her.

"_A combination of ice and fire type moves is incredible to see; I'm exceedingly pleased to watch this performance,_" Mr. Stone said.

"_This is beyond the normal standards of the trainers here that we see; this will be an exciting day indeed,_" Mr. Judge's eyes glowed as he watched the performance with a grin spilled out on his face.

"_Watching the combination of opposite type moves is always a wonderful sight._" Nurse Joy smiled at the sign of them. "_I'm filled with excitement for what they may pull out for us to see next._"

"_And so we shall, because from the looks on their faces, they're not done yet!_" Linda shouted as we all turned our attention back to the two girls on stage. The two girls grinned. It was Leena who took the lead.

"_Stop!_" Both attacks stopped simultaneously. And the crowd gasped in wonder, as did the judges as they sat waiting. "_Now Persian! Use pay day and throw all the change at Delcatty!_"

The crowd gasped as the pokemon started to make coins appear randomly and threw them at the other pokemon on the field. I even heard a few people screaming.

"_Now Delcatty!_" Tia cried out. "_Double slap!_"

The pokemon cried out, and to everyone's surprise, the tail hit the change and threw it up into the air. The tails of the delcatty began then to juggle the change in the air as the coins were tossed at it. The Persian soon enough stopped its attack and watched the juggling of its partner.

"_Now spin!_" Tia called out and the delcatty stopped the juggling and quickly twirled around on its side, as if it was chasing its tail. The coins hit its tail and were thrown to the ground around it. As the number of coins in the air decreased rapidly, the Persian jumped right next to the delcatty after all the coins were piled up around them in a perfect circle.

The crowd went wild as the two finished their routine. The judges were quite pleased with their display and I scowled after seeing that they actually put up quite an excellent performance.

"While they are a set of horrible girls, they know how to perform." Smith sighed as he watched them finish up their act.

"I see…" I snorted before turning back to Mattie. "I guess they'll be one of the ones we have to beat."

"I hope we both make it through, Jezebel." Mattie was still serious to my surprise.

"And why is that?"

"So we can kick their asses!" I blinked in shock at my best friend's words before I grinned at him.

"You got it, Mattie."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It'd been almost an hour since the first performance and many others had gone and done their appeals since Leena and Tia had gone. Most all of the other contestants had already gone, even Smith and Serena, who had a dazzling performance of an illumise and a volbeat that used tail glow, moonlight and signal beam. They had used a light in the dark performance, which was incredible and gave Mattie and me ideas for the future.

"And now it's time for our final performance before the second round!" Linda had us out of the room in the back and we were waiting just off stage for her to call our names. "Now let's welcome some newcomers to the contest field. Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling! Take the stage!"

I looked one last time over at Mattie and he nodded over at me. We walked out onto the stage as the crowd began to cheer out, especially in a section toward the front. I could see Aria, Casey, Alex and Violet all in the front row and all cheering for us, though I did notice a note pad in Aria's hands, and she had already used so many pages while she was here. I smiled at them and grabbed my pokeball from my belt.

"Let's go then, Mattie! Silky! Take the stage!"

"Beau!" I watched as people gasped over the look my shiny beautifly got as her radiant sparkles flew all over the place. The audience gasped and cheered wildly for my pokemon.

"And let's go too Roza!" Mattie threw out his pokemon. Roza appeared then with petals swirling around her. The crowd went wild at her entrance as well.

"Wow! If this is their entrance, their performance must be amazing!" Linda was quick to compliment us and I looked over at Mattie and nodded. He nodded back at me.

"Now, Roza! Use petal dance!" Roza was quick to follow Mattie's orders and the petals were a bright pink in color that flew around the stage.

"Now follow up with silver wind, Silky!" My beautifly flew up high into the air and from her wings came the glittery winds that hit all the petals that floated in the air and the glitter began to stick to them.

"And now sunny day, Roza!" Roza threw up her rose like hands and a sun appeared over our heads and it forced all the petals that were floating in the air and the extra glittery wind that was just floating about to glitter under the bright light. The crowds screamed at it and the judges seemed quite pleased with the routine.

"Another incredible use of the sun's reflection off of another attack," Mr. Stone said as he watched the show. "But it seems that our coordinators have another trick up their sleeve from the formation of Jezebel."

"Now Silky! Use shadow ball on the sun!" My pokemon cried out as a ball of dark black and purple energy appeared before her and was thrown at the sun. Once the two hit, they mixed together and gave off a rainbow effect which then reflected off the glitter and the glitter covered petals in the air that floated down into the audience and the stage. Those in the crowd jumped to grab them and I even saw the judges jumping out of their seats.

"This almost looks like something we'd make from glass that you'd see in a fine painting!" Alice was quick to call that out as she grabbed a petal in her fingers.

"You're so right, Alice! I've never seen an appeal like this ever!" Crystal grabbed a petal of her own while their older brother allowed a couple of them to fall onto his desk.

"This kind of appeal… it's just unheard of…" Jasper was stunned as he watched the fluttering petals slowly fade from the air as they landed and were grabbed by the crowd.

"I never would have thought that this kind of effect would have happened from petal dance, silver wind, sunny day and shadow ball…" Mr. Judge's eyes sparkled as he watched the petals. "It's one of those kinds of appeals that only can happen if those that perform it are the best of friends and it shows off their passion…"

"Yes, it would seem so." Nurse Joy cradled a petal in her fingers as it still glittered in her hands. "This is incredible for an appeal; I would have never guessed that this sort of appeal would be possible with this combination…"

Silky landed on Roza's head and Mattie's pokemon and mine bowed to the crowd. The crowd itself went crazy and the petals were grabbed by all, even when the shadow ball-sunny day combination faded away.

"And that would be the last of the appeals, and what a way to end the first round!" Linda was quick to jump around with the petals that were in her hair. She seemed quite happy. "Let's give another round of applause for Jezebel and Matthew! Come on everyone!"

It wasn't just another round of clapping that could be heard, it was also cheering that just seemed to echo off the walls just like the lighting and the petals did. It stunned me and Mattie, but I quickly grinned and grabbed his hand and lifted it into the air before I bowed to them all.

_This was pretty damn fun…_

"Now, remember everyone, only four pairs will be making it to the next round!" I blinked in shock as I heard that. Mattie was right behind me. "The judges will now debate on who they wish to see in the next round and decide on a winner in the battle round! Be ready for if you're picked, contestants!"

I pulled Mattie behind me down to the lower levels where we were quickly greeted by the many contestants who spoke of our appeal and how they knew we'd get into the next round. I could feel the glares of a couple of contestants; the head of those glares were from Leena and Tia. Their two pokemon from their appeal were returned and we did the same with Silky and Roza. Blade and Guardian were at the ready as we waited to see if we got into the next round.

"You were great!" Serena was quick to rush over to us and hug our legs. "You're gonna make it! I know you did!"

"You think so?" I gave her a smile as I jokingly gave her the question.

"I _know_ so!" She blew me a razzberry and I laughed at her before Smith came over and took her from our sides.

"You two were both great; an outstanding job." Smith raised an eyebrow. "Is this really your first contest?"

"Y-yes, why?" Mattie questioned.

"Regardless of that, you're still going down!" The two girls stomped over to us and huffed when they got before Mattie and I while Leena stepped up before me. "Your little _pretty_ appeal may win the judges over, but that doesn't mean that you'll win at the battle part, even if you do make it in!"

"Not to be _too_ rude here, but," I stepped up and the girl backed away. "I'm not that worried about the battle part; I'm still a trainer, even if I am trying my hand at contests now. I have six badges and many pokemon at my disposal that would have no problems with kicking your _ass_."

"We'll see about that. You don't have to have badges to prove your worth!" Leena huffed and turned on her heels to look at the screen. She grinned. "And here's the moment of truth."

"_And now here's the judges' choice for the next round!_" Linda's voice could be heard over the TV as we watched a large blue box show up with red lines that split it up into four sections. "_The first team moving onto the next round is… Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling!_"

"W-we did it!" Mattie was quick to throw his body at me as we cheered on our win into the next round.

"Yeah, we did, Mattie!" I hugged him in a death grip, but he was too excited himself to want to break free.

"_Next to move on is… Smith and Serena Morse!_" The little girl burst out into squeals and jumped into her brother's arms as their names were called.

"I knew you could do it, little Sis; my baby sister's a coordinator!" Smith grinned madly as he swung his baby sister around and she laughed.

"I'm so happy, Smithy!"

"_Next to make it to the second round is… Lucinda Newt and Carlos Carson!_" It was a random set of teens that I remembered had made a pretty decent performance with a set of a fire and an electric pokemon. I was interested to see how they would fare in this round.

"_And the last of our final contestants… Leena and Tia Taris!_" Those snobby girls grinned as they saw that they were moving onto the next round. I glared back at them.

"Oh I hope those girls are ready for a fight." I huffed and Mattie came to my side and took my hand in his. "I'm ready to take them down."

"Y-you're not the only one Jezebel." Mattie had a scowl on his face. One that I knew would only be fixed if we beat their sorry asses. And if given the chance, we planned to do so.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After taking a short intermission for all of us after the appeal round, we started up the battle round right afterward. Mattie and I got another break while we got to watch the battle between those Taris bitches and poor Lucinda and Carlos. Those two hardly stood a chance against the royal bitches, but it set us up to take them down in the final round. I hated to be this sour, but they hurt too many people in this contest for me to care. Mattie and I planned to go all the way to the top, and take them down.

But that sadly meant that we had to beat Smith and Serena, and that I wasn't exactly looking forward to since they wanted to win just as badly; this was also Serena's first contest. It felt so horrible to make the girl lose… In battle, my pokemon and I can be ruthless; Mattie and his team too… since facing off against my family, we don't know the meaning of holding back…

"Hey, what's wrong?" I looked over to see Smith looking down at me as I sat with Mattie on the bench across from the TV.

"Just…" Mattie spoke up from next me. He was as mixed up about this as I was. "Our battle…"

"I hope you guys are gonna face us with all you got." I blinked in shock and looked up at him. Serena rushed in front of me and grinned.

"Yeah! Fair and square! Winner beats mean people!" She laughed before she rushed into my arms, from where I was sitting on the ground, and hugged me.

"She's right. The winner gets to beat those… well, you know what I mean." He glared at the screen as we watched those bitches dominate over the other team with a set of zangoose and seviper. "I'm just glad we made it this far, and it's about time someone gave those two a lesson. Whether that is you or me, I don't care." He looked back down to us and met our eyes. "But don't throw it for us. All of us have to experience defeat at some point. It makes us then want to win even more the next time, once we're better."

"You're right, and I'm sorry I let winning and losing cloud my judgment." I rose from the floor and shook Smith's hand. "May the best set of coordinators win."

"Right."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"All right everyone, now we introduce our other set of coordinators who are battling for the final match for the ribbon! On the left we have Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling!" The crowd cheered as Mattie and I stepped forward. "And on our right is Smith and Serena Morse!" Another round of cheering went off for them and we approached our trainer boxes on the stage. "And now the clock is set for five minutes! The coordinator pair who loses the most points or who gets knocked out first before the time is us loses!" Linda threw her hand into the air at the clock before she threw it down and the first second was gone. "Begin!"

"All right; let's go, Kadabra!" Smith called out and summoned the psychic pokemon.

"Go, Ditto!" Serena sent out a pokemon that looked more like a little pink blob with eyes and a mouth than anything.

"All right; let's go Blade!" Our came my fighting type from his pokemon and he had out his blades, extended at our opponents.

"Guardian, you too! Help them out!" Guardian appeared on the stage. She twirled around at least once before she stood at Blade's side, ready to attack or defend.

"All right; let's start out, Blade! Focus punch on the ditto!" Blade nodded and vanished from sight and the pokemon looked around in wonder while Guardian only grinned as she pointed up to the roof, to where all eyes trailed, and watched as Blade's fist glowed brightly before he jumped off the roof toward the ground. The ditto screamed as Blade descended on it and punched the center of its body, leaving a dent into the ground. Blade jumped back with the light still trailing off his fist as he stood next to Guardian and watched the hole in the ground for the pink pokemon. I could hear groaning coming from the pit as the pokemon only had enough energy to climb to the edge before it was out cold.

"Ditto!" Serena cried out. She ran out onto the field to grab her pokemon and she cried.

"Aw, man…" I rubbed the back of my head. I glanced at Mattie, who also glanced at me. "And this is what I was worried about."

"I know."

"Wow! A knock out in only two seconds! Now that's some power!" Jasper grinned while his sister's eyes went wide at the battle field. "Those two didn't earn six badges by just showing up at the gym."

"Serena! Get off the field! The clock is still ticking!" Smith called out to his baby sister and she nodded with her pokemon in her arms and fled back behind him while he took over the reins. Because Ditto was knocked out, half of the points on their side of the field were lost. Smith clenched his jaw at it. "Now Kadabra! Use psychic on them!"

"Ka!" The pokemon's eyes glowed.

"Guardian, use protect!" Mattie was quick to send his pokemon to defend the two of them. A bright blue shield appeared before them and more points slipped away on Smith's side of the board, but I managed to see a few were missing of ours as well, most likely because we weren't doing anything at the moment.

"All right, Blade! Back to work! Use shadow ball on Kadabra!" Blade jumped over the barrier that Guardian had and summoned a ball of black energy which he threw at the kadabra. It hit the pokemon square in the face and it knocked out its attack, which then allowed Guardian to shatter the shield around herself.

"You attack too, Guardian! Use shadow ball as well!" Guardian summoned a ball of dark energy and threw it at, which slammed right into its face.

"Now together!" Mattie and I shouted together and another round of shadow balls were thrown at the kadabra. The shadow balls merged mid-throw and both smashed into the body of the kadabra and it was thrown into the back wall. Smith's face raced to turn as his kadabra fell out of the wall and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Kadabra!" Smith's call was too late though. Kadabra was knocked out.

"It's a knock-out!" Linda quickly called out; we still had three minutes remaining, but the battle was over. "Jezebel and Matthew win! They move onto the final round!"

"All right!" I pumped my first into the air.

"W-we did it, Jez!" Mattie rushed over to me and grabbed me in a hug and I did the same thing back. We turned back to look over at our opponents and, to my shock and surprise, Smith and Serena looked okay with their loss. I was glad to see that.

"A great battle, you guys; thanks for it." Smith walked across the field and shook our hands. "I guess Serena and I have a lot to work on."

"Lots of training, Smith; that's what'll work." I grinned at him.

"Y-yeah… lots of training, that's how w-we got to be so s-strong…" Mattie lowered his eyes to the ground. "At least Jezebel d-did…"

"Hey!" I huffed at him. "You're strong too, Mattie!"

"But now you gotta beat those mean girls…" Serena was quick to attach herself to her older brother's pant leg as she looked behind us. Those two girls were waiting for us, right after another short break.

"Don't worry, Serena; we'll get them." I narrowed my eyes at them as they vanished from sight. I was not going to let them get away.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After a quick fifteen minute break for Mattie, our pokemon, and I to get a quick drink, we were all out on the stage once more, ready to face Leena and Tia for the ribbon, and not to mention, to stand up for all the contestants who have been bullied by them like Smith and Serena.

Mattie and I stepped into our trainer box on the stage with Guardian and Blade standing at our sides. On the other side of the strange stood those bitchy girls, Leena and Tia, with their respected pokemon partners of zangoose and seviper.

"All right! Now here's our final match!" Linda called out as she looked to us on both sides of the field. "This match will be Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling vs. Leena and Tia Taris!"

"I hope we see some more power from Jezebel and Matthew's team; they dominated in the last battle, and it'll be interesting to see how they fare against this pair." Mr. Stone laughed as he watched over us. "I'm excited to see if they remain as overwhelming as in the last battle or if this one is much harder for them."

"I'll say, Mr. Stone; the last match was so crazy with how overpowering that those two were over the Morses." Jasper had his hands folded over his table. "But can't you feel it? There's something else other than winning and that ribbon on the line for these trainers. It feels like their pride and something else is on the line. There's heavy tension set between the two teams, I can feel it from this far back and read it on all four faces."

"Jasper's right; it does feel so… angry in here." Crystal lowered her eyes and took one of Jasper's hands in her own.

"Yeah, it feels creepy, like going into a haunted house that's possessed by a mean ghost or ghost pokemon…" Alice whined and grabbed onto her brother's other hand and leaned into his side, nervous.

"Their spirits are bound to make this an interesting battle where they all fight their hardest, regardless of this atmosphere; I wish to see it continue to the end." Mr. Judge coughed behind his hand.

"We'll just have to watch and see how this match goes." Nurse Joy looked nervously at our two groups.

"All right, then," Linda stepped to the middle of the battle field on the edge of the stage. "Let's get-"

"Hold it!" Everyone gasped as Violet walked onto the stage with Alex at her side. She pointed her finger at the two girls and they gasped. "They're disobeying their restraining order placed by the Contest-Coordinator Committee."

Everything went up into chaos then and there with people shouting and the two girls backing away. Violet and Alex changed into their changeling forms of their legendary birds and raced before the girls and stopped them. Violet and Alex each grabbed one and took them into their iron like grips. Their pokemon were grabbed by Amethyst and Alex's blastoise as they tried to get away.

"These two aren't who they claim to be; they've changed their names, looks, and have been a part of the coordinator committee. These two girls are really Brit Tremor and Livy Hathaway. Both girls were disqualified from contests for at least ten years due to cruelty to their fellow contestants and pokemon cruelty." Violet looked down at them with a furious look. "Now that they're of age, it means jail time for them, not only for breaking their restraining order, but also for getting more pokemon into the mess involving them!"

The crowd was suddenly in an uproar from the outcry Violet made. Screams and shouts echoed all over the place. The two girls cringed at the looks they got and their pokemon squirmed in the arms of their captors.

Everything suddenly took a turn for the worst, however, when the zangoose bit down on Amethyst and escaped her grasp. She cried out in pain, Violet's shiny charizard, and Alex's blastoise was so shocked that the seviper was able to escape as well with a hard swing from the end of its tail. The two pokemon growled and hissed from the middle of the stage, threatening to attack.

"Everyone stay back!" Violet cried out to the people in the stands. "Everyone get to safety! We'll handle these pokemon!"

"No way are we staying out of this!" I turned back over to Mattie who looked stunned at me. "I mean, this is no different than Team Aqua or Team Magma, and we were supposed to fight them anyway."

Mattie nodded. "R-right Jezebel!"

Everyone began to run out of their seats and rush for the doors to escape from the room with two loose wild pokemon. Screams could be heard as people rushed and trampled over each other to escape. It was quite the spectacle to watch them do so, and I hated to be rude, but I probably would have laughed at all of them if this situation wasn't so serious. Everyone looked as if they were torchics with their heads all cut off.

"Call off those pokemon!" Violet demanded out of the older girl she had in her arms. "They're going to hurt someone!"

"Then let them!" The girl turned her face up at Violet with a wild grin and madness in her eyes. "This is our revenge on all those who threw us out, who didn't let us perform for nearly five years!"

"Yeah!" The younger of the two struggled in Alex's arms. "Let them hurt a few people!"

"I seriously still hate them." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I-I know, so can we h-hit them now?" I blinked at Mattie.

"You're really eager for this?" I snorted. "Then let's do it, Mattie! Start us off!"

"Alright, Guardian! Take down that seviper! Use psychic!" Guardian's eyes suddenly glowed purple and the seviper was lifted into the air and it squirmed as its mind was under attack by Guardian. It cried out and tried to swing its tail to help itself, but Guardian was on the other side of the stage. "Nice, Guardian! Keep it up!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The younger of the girls screeched at us from the other side of the field.

"Taking you down. What does it look like?" I rolled my eyes before I gave Blade a look and nodded to him. "Go, Blade! Psycho cut on that zangoose!" Blade nodded before his arms were covered in the same purple energy that Guardian had glowing in her eyes and rushed to the other side of the field. His blade slammed into the white and red pokemon and threw it to the other side of the room. The girls' eyes raced to the other side of the room where their pokemon landed in the wall on the other side of the room.

Guardian then took that moment to throw the seviper over the wall as well where it landed next to the zangoose. Both of our pokemon slowly made their way over to them and Mattie and I followed after them.

"A shorter battle then I expected it to be, bummer…" I sighed before I looked over at Mattie. "Oh well, we still beat them." I looked over at Violet. "Need any help, Vi?"

"Naw, we're good, but thanks for taking care of those two." She jerked her finger over at the two pokemon. "I'll make sure they get to a rehab center, and take these two," she pulled at the girl in her arms, "to jail."

"While we're gone, go get the ribbons you two earned." Alex was quick to intervene and nod to us. "You two definitely dominated this competition, and left a bright path to follow for future days."

"Oh, and talk to Aria when you're done; you two were the winners after all. She wants to do that article." Violet tossed that in before she turned on her heels and give me a thumbs-up and left.

"Well… I guess we have our winner!" Linda nervously said those words and looked over to Mr. Judge. "Mr. Judge, if you would, please?"

"Thank you, Linda." The man stood up from his seat and walked over to Mattie, our pokemon and me. He pulled out a case and presented it on his arm to show us its contents. "While the end of this contest is not the same as most of others with the ending of a cheering crowd and other flashy things, regardless, you two stood your ground, made amazing appeals, and battled your way to the top and earned these ribbons for yourselves." He opened the case and showed us a set of bright green bow-like ribbons with a gold like badge on top of the knot that held it together. Its shape was a simple one, looking like a star. Both Mattie and I got the exact same one with a dark green trim on the ribbon. We both took one into our hands and I grinned brightly as I looked at my first ribbon. "Congratulations, you kids. I hope we'll see you again soon."

"Thank you so much, sir." I pulled out my case that Aria had given me and placed that first ribbon in there in the top corner. Mattie did the same with his own case and we returned our pokemon to their pokeballs before watching as Aria and Casey rushed toward us. I smiled at them and waved while showing them the new ribbon I had.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was almost twenty-four hours after the contest we had yesterday. We would have gone to another one today, but the hall was closed down to take care of the case that came up today. Contests would resume tomorrow. I was looking forward to it so I could perform again, this time by myself. I was working on many different types of combinations for my pokemon and planned to try my hand at as many of them as I could. A competition that was called the Grand Festival for coordinators was planned in the summer, only about seven months from now. I had to gather at least five ribbons before then to enter, and it sounded fun.

And I had to say… I really enjoyed contests now. It's like a fancy looking battle.

Also, since the events of the day before, Aria interviewed me and Mattie for her first ever article which was sent to the _Sootopolis Monograph_ by using the teleportation device used to transport pokemon in their pokeballs or items across distances to the company and we're still waiting to hear or see if they used her article or not in the paper. It was a bit last minute notice with the paper coming out today, and they only print out once a week on Sundays and spread the news worldwide.

Aria was sitting on pins and needles while she was waiting to see the paper. Once one came in close to noon (since the location we were in was on the later side for the paper run) Violet was the first to grab it and look through all the information. Violet was listed under almost fifty paper companies worldwide and got their articles to check and see dangers that the world is in and where she needs to plan to journey to and where she can contact her other members of her organization or friends and family to take care of things like that. She looked through the entire paper, marking things out in it before she pulled it apart and looked to us at the lunch table we were at. Alex looked over her shoulder as she read while we slowly ate our food while she continued to work with the page.

"Alright, you may want to look at this page and the couple following it." Violet handed us a section of the paper she was done working on and kept the rest of it. A section was marked in a green sharpie marker that read _A New Rising Set of Stars by Aria Charolette_.

"Wait…!" Aria was quick to look over my shoulder and look at the article I was reading.

-_It was like any old day in the city of Lilycove- a pokemon contest was taking place in the contest hall. Many trainers came from around Hoenn and performed there, only to get mediocre results due to their lack of effort and bond with their pokemon. But out of the corners of that contest, there were a few that stood out even more than the standard for what the judges expected of the crowd. The contest type of that day had been doubles, and the pair of Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling stood out quite considerably with their combination of the moves petal dance, silver wind, sunny day and shadow ball. It was an incredible display at the end where the petals had been covered in the glitter and the effect of the sun and shadow ball in the air give off a rainbow lighting which reflected off all the petals. And that was just their appeal!_

The article cut off for a moment there to show a vibrant picture of the appeal our pokemon put on yesterday that Aria somehow got a hold of. I smiled at her before continuing to read.

_When it came to the second round of the contest, battling, Jezebel and Matthew were set up against the Morse siblings first, little Serena and her older brother Smith. It was incredible to watch her as Jezebel and Matthew's team dominated over their team of a ditto and a kadabra! Powerful moves of shadow ball and focus punch took the pokemon out in only a second and finished their match instantly, sending them to the final round. But then, when they got to the final round, Champion Violet Vilmos of Kanto dove in with her predecessor in the Kanto championship, Champion Alexander Oak, to stop the set of girls who claimed to be Leena and Tia Taris, but were in fact outlawed coordinators named Brit Tremor and Livy Hathaway. Apparently, from information reported on them, the girls had nearly thirty counts of physical and psychological assault on their fellow coordinators and nearly six counts of pokemon cruelty for the two of them. _

_Champion Vilmos had a tight hold of the elder of the girls, Brit Tremor, while her charizard had a hold of the zangoose that the woman had a hold of. Her boyfriend and predecessor Alexander Oak, took hold of the younger of the girls, Livy Hathaway, while his blastoise had hold of her seviper. A sudden attack landed on Champion Vilmos' charizard when the zangoose bit down on her thin hand, releasing the crazed pokemon. That moment was enough to stun the blastoise, so that the seviper was able to free itself as well with a swing of its tail against the blastoise's head. _

_As people were being evacuated from the site, it was to everyone's shock that the other set of finalists were the ones to attack the wild pokemon that were rampaging. Jezebel sent her gallade after the zangoose with a psycho cut attack while Matthew's gardevoir used psychic on the seviper. Both attacks were strong enough to knock the wild pokemon back into the wall behind their trainers and bring them to their knees. _

Another picture then was shown with Blade and Guardian attacking the other side and overwhelming them with power. I smiled at the grins that could be seen on their faces.

_Jezebel and Matthew held uncontrollable power as trainers and as coordinators. For their actions, and because they'd made it to the finals before the whole ordeal anyway, they received their first ever ribbons. I believe that this is the first of many articles written on the two of them- Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling. May they continue along the paths of trainers, coordinators and heroes to the region of Hoenn.- _

"Oh my Latias… my article got published! My article got published!" Aria climbed out from the booth we were sitting at and screamed as she jumped about before grabbing Casey and hugging him like her life depended on it. Mattie and I rushed after them and hugged the girl squeezing the life out of her boyfriend in a large group hug.

Violet lowered the paper and smiled at us with Alex, who was looking at us with a grin and had thrown his arm over Violet's shoulders.

"Congrats, girly." Violet grinned and folded over her paper before moving onto another section. "I knew you'd get it. Hal was pretty happy with your work and is looking forward to your next article. He's honestly hoping to talk to you about a deal with the company."

"Really?" Aria squealed and released the rest of us before all that came out of her mouth were high pitched noises. The girl could not speak before she fell over from overexcitement.

"Aria!" All of us shouted at the girl and it was Casey who was there to catch her.

I sighed. "I hope this doesn't happen with the next article…"

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright, we take an awesome look at the contest world with a bit of a new twist on it! Weren't expecting that, were you? Hopefully we can deal with a bit more of this in the future! But now I think it's time to get back to the action, don't you think?**

**As always, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will Review or send in Questions for the story and characters! We all love to hear from you!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	19. Team Aqua's Secret Base

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 19: Team Aqua's Secret Base_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After Aria's big break with her publishing company, she spent the next entire day talking to the representative of the _Sootopolis Monograph_ to make a deal with him. She would write an article about all the contests that would take place during the week, Sunday through Saturday, and then would send him her copy later that afternoon to be published over night by a night shift before being sent out in the early morning. The manager also encouraged Aria to try her hand at other articles as well other than just contests; the paper was always looking for new rising stars in the world of all types and he would love an article written about them and any sorts of amazing adventures they go on.

So during the last two months, that's what Aria did; she'd used me, Mattie and Casey all as trial for her articles and it got our names out into the world as "rising stars." Casey was the son of the esteemed Professor Richard Birch and strived to be just like him. Aria spent an entire morning interviewing Casey for that information and still went to the contest that was planned that afternoon, determined to do both. She then used Mattie; since he was… "handicapped," he was easily the next one she would talk about, about how Mattie was overcoming his problems and all that worked against him to be as strong as he was. It made a great article about how anyone could at least try, and from there see how much they could do in the end. I was also a part of the list; being the daughter of a gym leader certainly turned a few heads, so Aria interviewed me about my rough upbringing (only to a certain degree, mind you) and how I strived to bring my scattered family together and be with them forever and how I wanted to protect others.

Aria's publisher was so pleased with her work and the stories that she'd made about us, he asked her to continue and try and get a bit of backstory or try to get something on Team Aqua or Magma. She couldn't quite deliver on the latter of the two since they hadn't been seen in almost three months, so she had to settle for background stories following up on our popular information. Violet and Alex even offered to do a small interview with her, which was quite shocking on my part, and they told her about some of the main reasons why they were here in the region and they talked about some theories they had. Violet was using it as a way to not only please the public, but fool Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Rose and Razi.

Not only did Aria get her interview, but something came out a bit sweeter for me…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It'd been nearly two months since we entered Lilycove and we'd had yet to leave. Mattie and I had spent most of our times earning ribbons and honing our skills for when the big moment happened, Team Aqua or Team Magma showed up and came out of hiding.

And it finally happened.

Team Aqua was spotted on the coast of Lilycove City. As soon as I had heard we had some action, I was quick to ask Violet if we could take it on, and to my shock, but relief, the woman had said yes. She and Alex would draw too much attention, not to mention, members of their organization were keeping an eye on them at all times. Violet through it would be wise to send us instead and if anything serious that we couldn't handle came up, we were to call her and Alex in immediately.

"So the entrance is over on the coast by the northeastern caves; you'll sneak in that way." Violet was running over our plan one last time before we would set out. "From there you guys can go wild in different sections in the base and take them down. After you get inside, spit up into your two groups and take down the operation." Violet stopped pacing before the wall of our room with the four of us sitting on the bed and Alex off to the side. "And be careful. I trust you all to be strong enough, but that doesn't mean I'm not uneasy about sending new trainers into enemy territory."

"Then are you still letting us go?" Casey questioned the woman.

She sighed. "Gwyn proved to me that young trainers can do the type of work that I do now, and what I have in the past when I was all your age. You deserve a chance at least, and you've proven that to me many times already." She shook her head and looked over at Alex. "I used to think that Alex, Vince and I were the only ones who could be that strong, and I didn't want to endanger any lives if I could be the strong one and protect them, but now I realize that I'm not, and that others can and want to help me." She looked back at us with those dark brown eyes. "Be prepared; you leave at eight tomorrow. Alex and I will keep the scouts off you while we have our 'date'."

"Got it." I stood up from the bed and turned to the others. "Let's get some sleep, you guys; we'll take care of that base in the morning."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

When morning broke, we put our plan into action. Violet announced that she and Alex were going on a date and we told her we were planning to train in the woods. From the corner of my eye I could see the grunts that were keeping an eye on us, and once we split up, I saw only one of their groups following us out to the woods. I summoned Darkness from his pokeball and he nodded to me silently before vanishing into the woods.

"All right, you guys, quick game of tag! Darkness is it!" We all split off into different directions in an instant to confuse the grunt that was tailing us. Because we rushed off so quickly I got a good look at the grunt that was following us and I grinned at him. When I he was looking around wildly for us, I jumped into one of the trees and hid up there until Darkness appeared next to me.

"Get him."

"Dusk!" The grunt turned around wildly to see my pokemon racing toward him and Darkness phased right through his body. It caused him to shiver and he turned around to see me jump out of the tree and land next to Darkness.

"You're it." Darkness' eye glowed a bright red in color and the grunt's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he fell to the ground. The others hurried over to me once the guy fell to the ground and Casey and Aria were quick to jump him and search for anything on him. We found a cell phone and a walkie-talkie on him. We took both of them off of him and Aria grabbed the cell while Casey took the walkie-talkie.

"Where should we throw them, Jez?" Aria questioned me.

"Aria, take yours deeper into the woods, right on the edge of Mt. Pyre. Casey, you take the walkie-talkie over to the Safari Zone deeper into the woods. We'll send them on a wild goose chase looking for their guy while he 'rests' out here in the woods." I turned to Mattie. "Send Violet a text and let her know where this guy is and we'll meet again over at the entrance to the base."

"R-right."

**Third Person Point of View:**

While the events were taking place with Jezebel and her friends, Violet and Alex were on their "date". Four grunts had followed after the two of them and followed them deeply into the town under disguise. Violet and Alex knew that they were there the entire time, but they had to pretend that they didn't to keep them following them so they wouldn't bother the younger group.

Violet and Alex settled themselves down at a café and ordered a small thing of tea for the two of them along with a small snack. They brought up meaningless conversations of their families and home and how they missed it all before they delved into deeper conversation about some of the information that they knew on Team Aqua and Team Magma.

"So the location of that base… how long do you think it'll be before we infiltrate it?" Alex was the first to launch the question. Violet looked up at him with a curious look.

"Which base?"

"The Team Aqua one," Alex looked around carefully before he leaned in. "The one on the coast."

"Oh, that one." Violet gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she pulled back. "Soon enough, Hon; we need to make sure those kids are well on their way first. They should be leaving soon enough for Mossdeep to try and win their next badges."

"That's good to hear." He sighed. "Not that I don't mind having them around, but I'm worried that they'll get in deeper than they should be. This is our type of work, not theirs."

Violet reached across the table and felt the top of her boyfriend's head. "Are you feeling okay, Alex? Normally you're not one to worry so much about others. At least, not this much."

"It's just… that girl… Jezebel… she reminds me of you." Alex took Violet's hand and brought it to his cheek and pressed it against it. "I'm worried she may be just as reckless as you were, and still are."

"She'll be who she's meant to be, honey. Things are starting to get pretty deep now, and I'll keep her from going deeper. She seems to have a huge bone to pick with each of those organizations, but I still have no idea why."

Alex groaned. "I wish we knew too. That girl will be the death of us if we allow her to go as nuts as you were back then."

"I will say, though, that being nuts back then has made me what I am now." She grinned at him. "You know you love it."

"I never said I didn't." He pulled her hand before his mouth and kissed it. She giggled at him while he then began to play with her fingers.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

While Alex and Violet continued on with their "date", the four grunts that had followed them were sitting at a table a good ways back as to not draw attention to themselves. In their opinion, listening to Alex and Violet was quite boring, but it was better than being run ragged by the higher ups at the base.

"Ugg… can't we just take the day off? It's boring watching the two of them." One of the female grunts of the group muttered angrily.

"Would you rather go back to the base? You're not getting a day off with all that needs to be done before we go to the undersea cavern." One of the males hissed at her.

"Hang on! Action's going on!" The four grunts all looked up at the second woman's cry and watched as Violet and Alex stood up from their seats and Violet heard her pokenav ring and she pulled it out. She blinked at the message before she grinned and turned at Alex.

"We should go over to the Safari Zone, where the others are!" She quickly grabbed Alex's hand and began to pull him away. "They said they're having a great time over there!"

"Come on, we have to go after them!" The four grunts rushed after the two of them toward the woods that Jezebel and her friends had just come from.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

We left the grunt back in the woods and took the northern route around town to make it all the way over to the entrance to the Team Aqua hideout. We were positioned on a cliff that looked over the cave entrance. While I could see that there was no one posted at the entrance, I could see some security cameras looking at the entrance.

"How are we gonna get in, Jez?" Aria set her hand on my shoulder as she asked me.

"We knock out the camera." I turned over to my duskull that hovered next to my head. "Take out those cameras, Darkness."

"Dusk…" my ghost pokemon floated down to where the cameras were, and, right above them, he summoned a set of shadow balls which he used to take out the device. When they were out of the way, Darkness grinned up at me and floated to where we were.

"Nice job Darkness; we're heading in now." I jumped off the cliff onto the small piece of land that was outside of the cave and the others jumped after me. Darkness clung close to me, as the others did as well to sneak inside the base as far as we could before we ruined the place.

As we stepped inside the cave, we could see that the entrance was not very illuminated. The darkness was all over the tunnel that led deeper into the caves. It was difficult to see our way around with only the light of the entrance to show us the way.

After a certain amount of distance, a light could be seen ahead of us. I squinted my eyes as we approached and once we hit the end of the dark tunnel, I tugged the others down to the floor to hide in the darkness as we looked around. The secret base down here was well built. Metal plating was all over the walls halfway through the room and a hole was cut out in the floor that led out to the ocean. The hole was entirely filled with salt water that I could smell on the air. Only a few members were placed out here and were circling around the center of the room, which was that exit to the ocean. An elevator was placed at the very back of the room, which, I'm sure, led down to the other levels that we needed to get to.

"So how are we going to get over there and not get caught?" Casey hissed out as he was scanning the area. "I even see a key card swipe on the end there."

"W-we can get the c-card from one of them…" Mattie pointed to where each of the grunts had cards attached to their belts.

"Yeah, but how? We can't do anything without them figuring us out." Aria whipped her head around to look behind us. "And there's going to be grunts coming in and out of this entrance, we'll get caught if we stay here too much longer…"

"Don't worry, we'll get it." My eyes raced to see a grunt nearby where we were that was resting. The grunt was female and seemed to be taking a nap on the job. I smirked. "Now we're talking."

"Jezebel?" I turned back to Mattie and smiled at him.

"Wait here." I jumped from our hiding spot when the other grunts weren't looking and dived behind the woman who was taking a nap. She didn't even flinch; she must've been a heavy sleeper. Darkness floated over after me and hid behind my back while I slowly pulled the chair over to a hidden corner out of the line of vision of the other guards.

"This is going to be fun." I shook the woman and turned to Darkness. "Hypnosis when she opens her eyes." He flew out before me and the woman just had a moment to open her eyes before she was forcibly knocked back out. While she was out, I pulled her off the chair and roughly pulled off her uniform and bandanna before I stashed her away and was quick to jump back into the tunnel with the others while the other two grunts still patrolled.

"Jez, what is that?" Aria stared at the clothing in my arms and I grinned at her.

"Turn away, boys; I need to change." Both of the boys turned toward each other before their faces flushed red as I reached for my own clothes. They quickly turned around and watched the grunts that were still circling around the room. Aria looked at me in question before she giggled as I changed my clothes. Once the uniform was on and I had my hair mostly tucked inside it so I didn't look like I was myself, I hurried back out there where the woman had been placed on her chair and put it back in its shielded position.

"Hey!" The guards quickly turned their heads at me when I shouted. "Someone's over here!"

Those two grunts came running in and past me to where their real female grunt was laying in the back corner half naked. Darkness then appeared out of the wall behind them and put them under the same spell he did with the last one. They fell to the ground and were out cold, for a long while.

"All right, you guys, we're in!"

The rest of my friends came running out as I was yanking the clothes off of the two other grunts, both males. I handed the bundles of clothes to Mattie and Casey.

"W-what are we doing with these, Jez?" I couldn't help but grin at the curious Mattie.

"We're infiltrating the base in two teams, remember? This is how we'll create a distraction so one team can get in further than the other." I turned my head to Aria and Casey. "You two will be the team that gets to face off with the most grunts, since you two will be going in as one captured and the one who captured her."

"Wait, so, let me make sure I have this right." Aria put up her hand to stop me. "You're telling me that Casey is going to pretend to be a grunt and to have 'caught me' to lead us into the base before he reveals who he is and draws most, if not all, the grunts to us, to allow you and Mattie, who will be dressed up _both_ in uniforms, time to make it to the heart of the base and take down the operation."

I nodded, a bit shocked she'd figured out my plan, but proud as well. "Yep, that's about it."

"Awesome! Sounds like fun!" Aria jokingly had placed her hands behind her back before Casey. "So are you taking me to your leader?"

"So get changed, boys; we need to get going." Aria giggled as I pulled her around the corner for the two of them to get changed. The boys both sighed behind us and I heard them putting the uniforms on.

"All right; we're ready." Aria and I turned around and saw the boys dressed in Team Aqua uniforms. Casey had his arms crossed and Mattie looked nervous in his new clothes.

"So, shall we get going?" The others nodded and we split up into our small groups. Mattie came over to my side and Aria took hold of Casey's hand. "So try and stay on the sneaky side, you guys. We want to make it in as far as we can before we mess up this entire base."

"Got it Jez; we'll be good, for now." Aria giggled and started to pull Casey toward the door. I shook my head and grinned at them before I pulled Mattie along with me toward the elevator at the back.

_Hopefully Aria won't be caught…_

**Violet's Point of View:**

Alex and I led the grunts that were following us away from the city and where Jez had said she had stashed the body of the single grunt that had followed them. We were in the middle of the woods, heading to the position where they had told us to go and find the grunt so we could get them all together.

"Oh, Alex! We should play a game of tag! We haven't done that since we were little!"

My boyfriend looked at me strangely. "Tag? Seriously Vi? We haven't played that in years."

"So?" I pouted at him. "Come on Alex… please?"

He sighed. "Oh, all right…" His eyes suddenly got dark then and he roughly grabbed my wrist and yanked my body right up to his. His lips smacked against mine and his other hand held my neck and jaw to keep me in place, not that I wanted to move. I melted into it before he roughly pulled me back and put our foreheads together.

"Run." He shoved me away and I sucked in a breath as I bolted into the woods and he waited back there for a few moments before he chased after me.

I was grinning madly as I ran through the woods with Alex chasing after me. It'd been a long time since we got to have some fun like this at all, and to be able to do this during one of our missions? Oh, I was totally game. It felt so nice to feel the cool forest air rushing past me as I raced in the woods. I felt so… _alive_, for lack of a better word, as I sprinted along no path within the trees.

I suddenly saw a flash of blue in front of me and jumped into the trees above for hiding. I looked down to the area I was just in and saw it was the grunt that Jez had told me of. I snickered as I heard Alex racing up to the same area and he jumped when he saw the same grunt I did, and then he landed in the tree I was in. I pulled him back next to me and gave him a quick kiss to the cheek as we watched the grunts rush into the area, not seeing the grunt Jez had taken out yet.

"Where did they go?" One of the female grunts hissed under her breath.

"They were just here!" A male grunt huffed as he whipped his head around, looking for us. "They can't be too far away!"

"Hey, wait…" The other female of the group slowly stepped toward the grunt that was knocked out. "It's Chris!"

"They know!" The last male was quick to pull out his walkie-talkie and I grinned before I jumped down and kicked the male in the face before he fell to the ground. I grabbed his walkie and attached it to my own belt.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." All the grunts hesitantly stepped back and Alex snuck up behind them. "Jez has a bone to pick with Archie and Shelly; I wouldn't get in her way if I were you."

The male suddenly shouted out as Alex struck a blow against his neck and knocked him out. The girls quickly turned to see that and it gave me enough to time to jump up on the first of the females and punch her in the gut before I slammed a fist to her head. She fell to the ground and the last female cried out before she turned on her heels and ran. She made it no more than three steps before Alex grabbed her hand and yanked her back before me. She screamed as she looked at my eyes before I pulled my fist back and slammed it into her face. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she fell to the ground.

I sighed once things calmed down. I had no blood on me this time and all the grunts were knocked out. I stretched before I allowed myself to fall in a spot where the grunts weren't on the ground.

"This is nice…" I closed my eyes for a moment before I heard my boyfriend clear his throat over me. I cracked one of them open and looked up at him to see his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Shouldn't we get going? We do have to wait on the call from Jez for when they take care of that base." I closed my eye and smirked at him before I sat up enough for a set of wings to emerge from my back that wrapped around my boyfriend and pulled him on top of me. My wings wrapped around the two of us and kept him tight against me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled.

"We got time, Hon; they just got into that base, it's gonna be another hour before we get a call, and we'll be there with the police in less than ten." I sucked in a breath before I licked my lips and kissed him again, slipping my tongue into his mouth. He groaned and his eyes slowly closed before I felt his hands ride up to my face.

He pulled back roughly and looked at me with heavy eyes. "I guess we have some time…"

I licked my lips again and pulled him back toward me. "I knew you'd come through." I pulled him back toward me and enjoyed a lustful session with his lips. Something I'd been longing for a long time now…

**Aria's Point of View:**

Casey and I had been traveling through the Team Aqua base for a while now; there was an extreme lack of grunts moving through many of the hallways, which was great for me and Casey since we wanted to make our way deep into the base before we revealed ourselves. Casey walked before me in his uniform while I trailed behind him. He would check out the rooms that we'd walk by and see if it was worth heading in, but there were hardly any grunts and no one to help or rescue, so we passed by it.

We made it down a good ways before we made it all the wall to a hallway where we could actually hear cries coming from it. I blinked up at Casey and he looked at me in question before he began to walk down that hallway. I followed slowly behind him before he motioned for me to stop. He walked into the room while I waited out in the hallway. I felt my heart beating incredibly fast as I waited for Casey to return.

"Yeah, I'll double back in a bit!" Casey walked out then after waving to whoever was inside. He moved just past the door and waved for me to follow him. I just barely looked around the corner to see the grunt looking away at a few papers and Casey grabbed me and pulled me to him.

"We'll start here. They've got pokemon stashed and trapped in this room. Go in to rescue them without your pokemon at first while I release Nincada to take care of those cages. Then call out your pokemon; he'll sound the alarm and bring most of the grunts here while I help the pokemon get out and then come back to join you." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Think you can handle it?"

"Is that a serious question?" I pouted at him before kissing his nose. "I'm all for it."

"All right; be careful." I grinned at him before I looked back in the room to make sure the guy was looking away.

When I was sure he was looking away, I bolted in and ran for the first cage that was filled with many types of pokemon, mostly consisting of water types. I looked at the grunt one more time, who seemed to be filling out some sheets on some of the pokemon that they had apparently captured here in these cages, before I grabbed the lock and tried to pull it off.

"Hey!" I turned around to see the grunt yelling at me. I jumped away from the cage and bolted toward the door, but then Casey appeared.

"Hold it right there, Aria Charolette!" Casey made a grab for me, but I ducked and flew off to the side to avoid both their grips. Once I saw that Nincada was easily inside and was cutting away at the locks on the cages, I grinned and pulled out two of my pokeballs. I tossed them into the air and grinned when it was my sceptile and my metang that came out. Metang levitated me onto his head and Sceptile stood at the front, ready to attack all those that came at me.

"Shit! Call for help, dude!" The grunt nodded at Casey's command and ran for the switch that called for the alarm. It rung in my ears and sounded off almost like a siren, but I dealt with it. The noise kept the grunt from hearing Nincada's work.

"Now, Sceptile! Use leaf blade!" My grass type's arms extended, the leaves on them anyway, and he went to town with things in that room, slicing them up. He hit a few cages and as soon as the doors were open, pokemon fled. The room was in such a chaotic mood that even when help did arrive, there was hardly anything they could do but try and take me down, and that wasn't happening any time soon.

In the mist of the chaos, Casey vanished to go and help those pokemon get out of here. I grinned when I saw that none of the grunts had noticed him vanish. I snorted and smiled at my team. With the room empty, I could go _all_ out.

"Now, you guys! Let's _crush_ them!" Both of my two pokemon presently out cried out their replies of agreement and Sceptile rushed forward while Metang hung back with me on top of him. Life didn't get any better than this when you got to beat up a criminal organization…

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

With the alarm going haywire and drawing most to all the grunts off to where Aria and Casey were, Mattie and I were easily able to slip through the base and look for anything else that would be helpful to take out and such. We came across many labs where scientists seemed to be working on things and some computer labs where other information was up. I even found a computer with all of our information on it, but for some reason they kept researching me. I guess my uncles still didn't believe that I was really their niece, but that works out better for me, I guess. Keep them guessing; it'll all hurt worse in the end when they finally know.

I destroyed all those machines; maybe it would make them wonder, but I didn't care.

We were able to make a large dent in the base and cause a shit ton of destruction along the way. We still hadn't run into many members or any admins at all, but that just meant that much more base to cover. Archie still wasn't accounted for, and neither was Shelly. It irritated me that I hadn't found them, but I would. That I promised myself.

"Dusk…" Darkness was floating at my side and was one of the only pokemon I had out at the time due to fact that I wanted to move faster, and even though all my pokemon were incredibly fast, they were easier to spot compared to Darkness, who could also slip through the walls and hide in any space dark enough.

"Ya…" Luna was the pokemon Mattie had out. Small, but powerful, that damn feline pokemon was a force to be reckoned with. The pokemon was able to take out an entire room on her own in the shortest amount of time in history. She just went _wild_. I was glad we had someone like that on our side, but that didn't mean I hated and loved to battle against her since she was such a pain. Not to mention, Luna is still the only pokemon on Mattie's team that has never lost a battle.

Still, we kept moving forward, taking out the base one inch at a time as we got further and further inside. What worried me, though, is that we hadn't run into the higher ups or heard about them yet. It made things hard on our part to find them or certain places in the base. It's not like we had a map or anything.

"Jezebel! Look!" Mattie's cry suddenly caught my attention as I looked to where his finger pointed. It was an office area, and a large one at that. I could see the darkly colored desk in the center with a single chair behind it. There was no way in hell it couldn't be Archie's office. It overlooked a hangar through a glass window behind him that seemed to lead out to the ocean. I saw that the pool of water in that hangar behind his office held a submarine and getting onto it was Archie himself along with Shelly. My eyes widened and I hurried toward them when I saw the chair turn around and it was another higher up of Team Aqua.

"You're not getting past me girly." The man stood up and pulled out a couple pokeballs and I gritted my teeth.

"Get out of my way! Acey!" My dragon and ground type pokemon appeared from my pokeball and threw a dragon breath at him before he could even release his pokemon. He ducked under the desk and the attack of ours shattered the glass. It was enough noise to get Archie's attention and he turned back to look at me while I could only hiss down at him.

"Not this time, girl!" He quickly ducked into the submarine and Shelly flew in behind him and they closed the latch.

"No!" I turned to my pokemon. "Acey! Stop them!" Acey sucked in a large breath and blew it out at the sub that began to dive as her fiery attack hit the water. Her entire body then took on a thick white glow that surrounded her entire body as her form began to change. I saw her grow to larger than my own size, more like the height of Blaze and Blade, with a long tail with three small wings on the end of it and two large wings on her back. Small arms and legs emerged from the mid-section and a long neck grew out of the body with two tails sleeked back on the head. The white light disappeared and before me was Acey's fully evolved form. Her body color was an overall green with bright blue stripes and on the tails on her head, while her eyes and the edges of her wings were the same shade of golden yellow. Sparkles glittered around her as she stuck her head out of the window and blew fire at them. It hit the water just in time for the sub to sink below the water and vanish from sight.

I screeched and stomped my foot. The grunt stood up and I growled at him before I tackled him to the floor. Even with being a larger man, he shielded his face and cried out whenever my tiny fists hit him.

"Jezebel…?" I could barely hear Mattie's words over my rage. I heavily breathed before I threw the grown man to the ground and turned around to throw my left fist at a wall, denting it before pulling back my hand as it echoed with pain all over it.

I screeched out and pulled my hand back to my chest. Mattie quickly rushed over to me, but he wasn't sure what to do with me. I hissed out and looked at him.

"Call Violet… _please_ Mattie…" The young man was quick to grab his pokenav and was rapidly pressing buttons.

_If I didn't control myself now, I was gonna kill myself… or someone else…_

**Violet's Point of View:**

I sighed as I pulled Alex closer to me (if that was even possible) and kissed him harder as I felt him push his tongue further into my mouth. I felt every fiber of my being electrified as if I had been zapped by Amber, but it was entirely out of passion and lust that was on an adrenaline rush through my body.

Alex suddenly grabbed my hands in one of his own and pulled them over my head as he deepened the kiss and used his only free hand to feel along my curves and I couldn't help but groan as I felt his thicker hands add pressure to my skin, to all the places I didn't want him to touch. I wanted him to touch… other places… but he _wouldn't_…

Suddenly my phone went off and I groaned loudly at it. Alex snickered and rolled off of me so that I could sit up and answer my pokenav. I pulled the device out of my pocket and brought it to my ear. "Hello?"

"_Violet! H-help!_" I blinked at hear the shy Mattie's voice come over the phone. "_Jezebel's hurt! S-she punched a grunt before she hit t-the wall and I think h-her hand is broken!_"

"All right, Mattie; hang on. We're on our way." I quickly jumped up to my feet. "How did the rest of the mission go other than Jez's broken hand?"

"_We took care of the base… but Archie and Shelly g-got away in a submarine." _I heard him sigh as I motioned for Alex to follow after me. "_All of the pokemon were released and the grunts were all rounded up and captured… Will Jez be okay?_"

"I don't know, Mattie. Hang tight, okay? We'll be there so-" I was cut off when I noticed another call coming through. "I'll call you back, Mattie; just get of there and head to the hospital, okay?"

"_Yes ma'am._" He hung up then and I closed the call with him before I answered the other one.

"What's up, Gwyn?"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I hissed in pain as I sat in the hospital room with my friends and pokemon after we got out of the base. Mattie got us out of there once we met up with the others and we got me patched up. I had a broken hand; I was expecting that when I punched a solid metal wall that was a few feet thick. I was actually still shocked that I was able to actually dent that damn thing. It made me feel better, but I wished it had been my uncles' faces. But a metal wall would do for now.

Moving past that, though, Acey had evolved into her final form, a flygon. _Flygon, the mystic pokemon and the evolved form of vibrava. It hides itself by kicking up desert sand with its wings. Red covers shield its eyes from sand. The flapping of its wings sounds like singing. To prevent detection by enemies, it hides itself by flapping up a cloud of desert sand. There are no flygon nests in this region. _

Even with a cool evolution under my belt, I was still pissed at all that's happened. Violet had arrived a short while after I'd been treated and entered the room. She had a serious look on her face, as did Alex, who stood behind her, and didn't have a hold of her hand.

"Sorry, Vi…" I grunted out.

"You did fine, Jez. Don't worry about that. We have bigger seaking to fry." She came over to me and set a medal in my hands, a gold one that had the Team Magma emblem on it. "We found another base, for Team Magma this time around, in the heart of Mt. Chimney." Violet allowed me to curl my fingers around the item. "You guys go take out that base; we need to help the boys and Levy out with an attack on Mt. Pyre."

"Another base?" Aria questioned. "But we just took one out!"

"We'll be out there shortly. We'll rest in Lavaridge." I signed before I walked past Violet, the two of us had on our serious faces, and we headed our own ways.

"Jez! Wait up!" The others rushed after behind me, but I didn't slow down.

_Until they all were taken down, I wouldn't rest until they were brought to justice. _

**Witch's Note: **

**Alright, so we had some good moments for Jez, Violet and Aria in these chapters with all the character view switches! How did you guys like that? We get to go see a bit of the naughty things that Violet's been doing with Alex while Jez and the others get to do some dangerous stuff! And now we're off to another base! Who else is excited?**

**So like always everyone, please remember to Review and send in Questions for me and the characters! We always love to hear your feedback and show us how to get better!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	20. Team Magma's Evil Plan

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 20: Team Magma's Evil Plan_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It was amazing to have a flying pokemon now. It was nice to be able to use Acey to fly us over half of the continent back to Lavaridge where we stayed for the night and Violet updated me via phone. Apparently Gwyn and Tristan finally discovered an entrance into the deeper sections of the volcano where Team Magma apparently has a base. Apparently, to get inside, you needed these medals that they carry (which Violet had given me previously before I left Lilycove), which reacted to the door system that let you inside.

Once we'd made it to Lavaridge, Gwyn filled us in on how she and Tristan would be a distraction on the outside, purposely drawing grunts to the entrance they'd found after we made it safely inside using some uniforms that they'd stolen from some wandering grunts (which is how they got the medal in the first place) and we would head in and deal with the heart of the base. From what Gwyn also told us, the volcano had been extremely agitated lately, something had been causing it to become more active. It worried her, and she also was fearful for the pokemon that were in the area. We had to take care of it before it got much worse.

So the plan was that in the next morning we would head over to the volcano and start dealing some damage. That was fine by me; I was ready to cause some. My hand still hurt and I needed to make up for it with my other one and pokemon.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

The next morning I woke up quite early, earlier compared to all the others, at about seven or so. I just couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and dressed and headed down for breakfast. My pokemon heard all of my movement and got up with me, most of them coming down the stairs on their own rather than returning themselves to their pokeballs.

I was actually surprised, however, when I saw Gwyn and Tristan already downstairs at a table for breakfast, all of their pokemon eating there as well. Gwyn's togekiss seemed to be right at her side while she ate and acted quite like a little one, even with her large size. Another thing that stood out was the two legendary dogs that sat next to each other, Gwyn's suicune and Tristan's entei, the two of them cuddling next to each other. Everyone else, I had to say, was just eating or playing about.

"Oh, Jezebel!" I turned my head to Gwyn who called my name. "Come join us! We have plenty of room here at our table! Order some food for your pokemon!"

"Sure." I hurried over to the two of them and took the seat next to Gwyn at the booth where they sat. My pokemon easily found themselves a place to sit, and when Nurse Joy and her trusted partner Chansey came around next, I asked for some breakfast for all of them along with a thing of waffles for myself. I was _starved_.

"So, did you sleep well Jezebel? You're up awfully early." Gwyn was quick to ask me once the woman who ran this center was gone.

"Yeah. Well enough as someone with a broken hand can, I guess." I shrugged at her. "Still hurts like a bitch…"

"I know the feeling; all of us have our own wounds, either inflicted by other people or inflicted by events that we've all had to go through." Gwyn smiled at me. "Violet had her arm broken three times in the year and a half she spent dealing with Rose and Team Rocket in Kanto and the Sevii Islands four years ago. She was also attacked by a ghost pokemon attack called 'curse' that was used to implode her heart a few times until she became immune to it. I smashed my head open a few times from my battles against Team Rocket, along with Aaron accidentally breaking my nose when he got into a fight with Tristan that I tried to break up. All in all, you're doing better than the rest of us."

"I'll say." Tristan took a swig of his drink before he reached across the table and grabbed Gwyn's hand and played with it between his fingers.

"And I'm sure you'll have more, we all do." Gwyn shrugged and took another bite of her meal. "It's normal for this type of work- especially Vi and me- but that doesn't mean the boys don't get hurt from time to time."

"Glad to know." I nodded to her.

"But still…" Gwyn sighed. "Will you guys be all right when you head into the base?"

"We'll be fine. We just took one down yesterday after all." I shrugged at her. "I'm more excited for when I get to face off against Maxie…" I clenched the one fist that wasn't broken. "I have this feeling… I'm going to face him… I just know it…"

"Easy there, Jezebel." It shocked me that it was Tristan who was the one to tell me to cool it. "I've seen that look before; I had it once in my own eyes. Don't let it overtake you; you may do something that you regret."

I blinked at him. "Have you done something that _you_ regret?"

"We all have, Jez; there's not a single person alive that would tell you otherwise." Gwyn looked sadly down at her plate. "But how we get stronger is by facing it. I believe this is a possible reason for why Violet's letting you do as much as she has."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What do you mean by that?"

Gwyn sighed. "Violet never did such a thing for me until… well… it must have been closer to where I had most of my badges and had proved my worth with battling Team Rocket and the gym leaders of my home region of Johto. It took forever for me to convince her through that I could handle myself and take care of situations and protect others. She'd never met someone like me before, so she had to be very careful when training me. Now that she's trained two people, her third and fourth aren't as hard."

"Third and fourth?"

"I'm the first one, Levy Marveille is the second, you're the third, and your friend Mattie is the fourth. Violet tends to take on female apprentices while Alex and Vince take on male. It's nothing to do with our genders, even if it seems like it, but for some reason the more powerful trainers that we've noticed recently have been females. They have this aura to them that just rolls off of them in waves. I had it when Violet first met me, and we felt it when we met the two of you, however, Mattie and Aria are the first to be switched."

"Okay…" I sighed and stood up from my seat. "I'll be back; holler when my food gets here, okay?"

"Sure, Jez." I walked off then to the back porch of the pokemon center that looked over the hot springs. I sighed when I got there and looked past them to where the mountain was.

"I'm taking you and your operation down, Uncle Maxie. That's a _promise_."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A few hours later, we started to put our plan into action. Tristan and Gwyn would be the decoys outside the base by taking care of most of the grunts that would be sent their way to keep them out of the base while the four of us traveled inside to take care of the more powerful grunts, free pokemon, and stop whatever plan it is that my uncle has in this volcano that's going to help him "expand the land."

Before we were going to head over there however, Violet informed us of the item that was taken from Mt. Pyre from the Team Magma raid on it. Apparently a "blue orb" was taken from the top, which is apparently connected to a set of legendary pokemon named Kyogre and Groudon, pokemon that were said to have shaped the seas and continents, only heard of in legends. At least, that's what Violet told us.

I remember reading about the two of them and a supposed third pokemon in their group when I was younger, but I had no time to delve into that story at the time. With the information Violet gave us, we hurried over to the base of the mountain and climbed it to a certain degree before Gwyn turned to us.

"We have our own medal here to get in; there's another entrance on the other side of the mountain. Go there and head in on the opposite side while we draw all the attention here, okay?"

I nodded to her. "Got it; where should we meet up?"

"We'll keep in contact by phone, but don't plan to meet at any sort of location. This is an active volcano, we don't want anyone to get trapped by waiting for someone. The only location we should meet up in, at the latest, is at the town at six. Clear?"

"Crystal." I gave a grin to her before I turned on my heels and moved toward the other side of the mountain. "Let's go, you guys."

Gwyn and Tristan slowly began to vanish from sight as we moved further away from them and they used the emblem to get inside the mountain. I could hear shouting from back there where they entered and heard the blasts. _They must have been having some fun…_

**Gwyn's Point of View:**

I groaned as the younger girl took off with her group of friends and I was once again left alone with my boyfriend. Tristan looked at me worriedly as I pulled out the metal and allowed the strange piece of metal to react with the door before it opened before us.

"You want to talk about it?" My boyfriend was quick to ask the question I knew he would voice aloud. "We do need to be grabbing the grunts' attention after all."

"I know… it's just… that girl…"

"Hey! Its Gwyn Jalen and Tristan Vilmos! Get them!" A horde of grunts were on us in seconds with their pokemon out. I sighed and turned to them.

"Sunrise, Shocker, would you please handle this while I speak with Tristan?" Both of my pokemon emerged from their pokeballs and growled at the opposing party.

"Help them out, Weavile, Crobat." With four pokemon released, they had their fun with attacking the grunts as long as they wished while Tristan and I got some more time to talk things through.

"What is it about Jezebel, Gwyn?"

I shook my head at him. "She just… she's so much like Violet… and while I normally would be okay with that, she has all this pent-up anger inside her body, and it all seems to be directed at the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma." I looked down at the ground. "I'm worried about how she's connected to them, and why it bothers her so much. When looking through her records I never saw anything that was out of the ordinary or that would stand out…"

I heard a smacking sound and looked to see Tristan hit his forehead. "Gwyn, I love you with all of my being, but you didn't see it? Violet pointed out the reasons behind why Jezebel's so angry at them."

"What?" My eyes widened. "What was it?"

My boyfriend leaned over to my ear and whispered into it. "They're her family."

"Oh my Lugia…" I gasped. "Why are we keeping it a secret?"

"Because Violet doesn't want to confront Jezebel about it until she says she wants to." My boyfriend shook his head. "And we're not to say a word until the girl tells one of us."

"Oh… okay…" _I really hope Jez tells us soon. I hate not being able to help the poor girl…_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

My group of friends and I hurried over to the other side of the mountain and used our other medal to get inside. Upon entering the door, I noticed that there were only a few grunts still around, and most of them were responding to the alarm that was going off and heading toward the other side of the mountain. Only a couple would remain, and those were few enough for the four of us to sneak in quietly and deal with anything that stood before us.

My three best friends followed after me silently as we passed through the hallways and the tunnels. The base was a mixture of the hot rock that belonged to the volcano while other portions of it was covered in metal plating to reduce the heat and keep some of the area inside this volcano cool. Many machines also littered the place while I could see some wild pokemon actually still filtering around the area freely, but I'm sure the reason why I hardly saw them was their fear of Team Magma and the ways they most likely got treated.

Thanks to Gwyn and Tristan handling all the other grunts on the other side of the volcano, it made for a much easier passage through the area. While we did have a few run-ins with some guards, we were easily able to take them out and stash them in some safe location so they wouldn't get hurt from the heat or if lava came in at all.

Darkness was an amazing asset to us traveling through the base. He was able to phase through walls and knock out the guards before they even saw us, and since there was so few, we never ran into any problems. We did have some issues though with traveling over certain locations. We ran into a few streams of lava at one point or another. To cross relatively safely, we had Darkness levitate us or Blaze carry us. With him being a fire type, lava doesn't hurt him- maybe just stings a bit at best- but we didn't test that theory. He was able to stand up to the extreme heat and carried us over the lava rivers. He could take two of us at a time while Darkness did the same. It was normally Mattie and I who would be carried by Blaze while Aria and Casey were carried by Darkness.

Eventually, we managed to make it a good ways in, to where there were a few more grunts than normal. I hard Darkness go on ahead of us to scout out the location so that he could knock out any grunts and tell us what was in the area.

Darkness came back to us a few minutes later and used his ghostly powers to enter our mind and show me what he did, to save time and explanations. I saw him traveling through the walls of the mountain until he came to a room where I could see my aunt and my uncle together. They were standing in a room that was filled with trapped pokemon and another entrance to the room. Uncle Maxie made his way toward it with the blue orb in his hands.

"With this blue orb, our dreams will finally come true, Courtney; I will revive Groudon and expand the lands of the world." I watched him kiss her hand before he walked away.

"And I will hold my post here so that you can do so, Dear." Courtney blew him a kiss before she turned toward the door and glared at it with pokeballs in her hands. "That fake girl won't get past me! Nor will any of her friends!"

Darkness then allowed us to pull back to reality and I clenched my fist. "Oh, I'm gonna get past her, all right, right after I give a good fucking fist to her-"

"Jez, calm down." Aria was quick to latch onto my shoulder and I looked back at her, my head turning quickly to face her. "Relax a bit, okay? Casey and I'll take care of your aunt. Go take care of Maxie and stop him from reviving Groudon."

I looked at the determination on my best friend's face and watched as Casey joined her. He placed an arm around her and they both looked at me seriously.

"Jez, we can handle ourselves; take out Maxie, before it's too late."

"Come on, Jez… we can do this!" Mattie took hold of my hand and it was then that I finally sighed and relented.

"Fine; let's go, you guys!" With a cry from my friends, we raced around the corner to the tunnel full of admins. Aria and Casey took the lead from us then and called out Swampert and Aria's recently evolved Exploud. The two of them were a set of powerhouses as they knocked human and pokemon out of our way as we turned the corner. My aunt quickly saw me and was quick to grab a pokeball when Mattie shot before me and released my hand.

He turned to me, determination written all over his face. "Go, Jezebel!" I nodded to him and I booked it past them into the next room. When I managed to get in there, I noticed I was at the heart of the volcano. Lava was flowing into the room we were in and the entire area seemed to have a red glow to it from how hot it was. I looked around the place until I saw Maxie standing on a platform that led partly out in the middle of the lava, like a bridge that only led halfway across a lake.

I made my way up to where he was. When I made to only a few feet before the man that was my uncle, he crossed his arms behind his back.

"Groudon… nothing could awaken you from your sleep bathed in magma… The blue orb is what you sought. Wasn't it? I have brought you the blue orb. Let its shine awaken you! And show me…" He pulled his arms before himself and brought the blue orb into the light. "Show me the full extent of your power!"

"Maxie, no!" But I was too late.

The next thing I knew, the blue orb glowed and the earth began to shake. From the center of the lava, just before Maxie, appeared a statue that suddenly came to life when the light of the blue orb reached it. The statue's body suddenly took color from shades of grey to a dark red color that looked like a large beast that stood on its back legs with thick claws and a long tail that looked like its body was made of earth slightly melted on its face and body. The pokemon roared before it sunk its body before the surface of the lava and the earth continued to shake before it got worse and the two of us fell to the ground.

"Groudon! What's wrong? Wasn't the blue orb the key? Groudon! Where have you gone?" He suddenly whipped his head around to me and his eyes widened before he growled at me. "You… you imposter!"

"Imposter? I find that highly insulting." I quickly stood up and drew my pokeballs from my pockets and threw out Acey and Blaze's pokeball. Darkness was already out and the three of them surrounded me.

"You imposter! You stole the identity of my niece!" Maxie growled and threw out his own three pokemon, crobat, camerupt and mightyena. "What makes you think you have that right?"

"I can't steal something that already belongs to me." I narrowed my eyes at him. "And now you've just released a powerful ancient pokemon from its deep sleep. Great job. Now what do you plan to do about that?"

"Nothing, but my first plan is to take you out!" He threw his arm forward. "Get her!" His pokemon then charged at me and my pokemon.

I could feel the rage building up in my body, and now it was time to let it loose. "Get him!" My pokemon flew off like rockets at his pokemon and slammed into them, knocking them back as I pushed off the ground and raced at him. I watched as Maxie's eyes widened as I came at him and threw my fist at his face. It collided with him and it threw him back a few feet and all pokemon stopped for the moment to look back at the match between trainers.

That one punch wasn't enough though. I could still feel so much rage inside. How could my own family go behind all our backs and ruin our lives? Just knowing that this would come back and ruin Dad's reputation in general, how they betrayed all of us…

It burned in the depths of my heart.

I screamed as I raced at him again with my fists before me and threw them at him again as he scrambled to get to his feet. Once he was there, though, he was after me in a heartbeat. His fists flew past my head as I just barely missed them as they danced around me. I threw my foot up between us and it hit his chin. He was stunned by it for a moment before I threw my broken hand at him. It hit his face and threw him back, but at the cost of my hand. I screamed from the pain and held it in pain.

While I was distracted by that, Maxie got back to his feet and tossed his body at me with a fist directed at my face. I felt it connect with the front of my face and I felt my nose break from the contact. I cried out again and suddenly saw a body over me. Silky emerged from her pokeball and Blade knocked Maxie back with a heavy fist into his abdomen. Silky then threw a silver wind in his direction and from the heat of the area, it caught on fire instantly. Maxie cried out as some of it licked at his clothes and limbs before his pokemon took and scraped up some dirt and threw it at him to put it out.

"You brat!" The other two of Maxie's pokemon were knocked back away from me before they came at me once more. "Crobat, poison fang! Camerupt, overheat! Mightyena, use crunch!"

His pokemon either latched onto my own with their teeth or they caused a far off assault. My pokemon cried out from the attacks as the crobat bit Blade, and the mightyena bit Blaze, while the camerupt hit the other three of my pokemon. Silky screeched as she got hit with the attack.

"Silky! Fall back!" My beautifly shook her head and I was shocked to see her hurry off toward the camerupt and use a powerful silver wind attack on it that quickly caught fire and exploded as it filtered through the air. Its masses spread to both of our parties and my pokemon had just enough time to escape back next to me before Maxie's team went flying backward. Silky landed back in my arms, breathing heavily. My other pokemon jumped before me and acted like a shield incase Maxie's pokemon wanted to have another round with them, but it seemed like they did not.

"You little bitch… you must have been the reason behind why Groudon ran off!" Maxie returned his pokemon, which were barely standing, and put the blue orb back in his jacket pocket. His nose was running heavily with blood from where my fist hit him, along with a few black and blue spots that were decorating his skin. "Nevertheless, we don't this volcano any longer. I will pursue Groudon, and you'd best stay out of my way!"

The room suddenly went dark and I could hear the screams of my friends. My eyes adjusted to see the lava still glowing, but other than that, Maxie was gone. I turned on my heels to run back to the others only to feel them all grab me.

"Jez!" Aria was the first to reach me in the dark. "What just happened?"

"Maxie… he got away!" I growled and tugged against my friends after I knew they were all right. _I wanted Maxie to pay…_

"Jez, you can't! Your hand's broken again! And so is your nose!" Casey took a strong hold on my good arm to keep me back. "We got to get out of here and regroup with Gwyn and Tristan!"

"Please, Jezebel!" I looked over at Mattie and my eyes were caught dead in his. The aching of pain and hatred was dying down, but it was still there, the shadow shard of my heart.

"Tell me one thing at least." I sighed and relaxed my muscles as I stared at him. "Tell me you were able to take down Courtney."

"Yes, I beat her." Mattie nodded to me. "She got away, but I beat her heavily. I doubt that she's going to be doing anything any time soon."

I huffed. "Fine… let's get out of here you guys…"

I let the others lead me out of the tunnels of the volcano to the entrance that we came in. Tristan and Gwyn were already waiting, their entrance to the cave was clear of pokemon and all the grunts were wrapped up in a little package and their pokemon out and ready to carry them off. Gwyn looked worriedly over at me, probably to ask if I was okay, but I turned away from her head started to walk down the side of the volcano, silently.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Hours later, I was back at the pokemon center with my hand bandaged up again and my nose also added to the list of injuries that I had on my body. From what the nurse told me, it'd be a few months before they'd heal, and that was sucking in itself.

I huffed as I lay out on my bed with my pokemon resting with me. Silky had taken some serious damage and had to have her wings bandaged up for the time being. She was not allowed to fly or use them for at least a couple weeks from the burn marks on them. She was not happy about that, but she lived with it. She rested on the top of my bed's headrest.

The rest of my pokemon were fine. They weren't as susceptible to the fiery attacks as Silky was, being a bug type pokemon after all. Blade and Blaze were the angriest at the moment. They hardly let anyone near me after what happened today (other than my normal group and their pokemon that is). They took turns looking after me throughout the rest of the day while Acey and Darkness seemed to somewhat beat themselves up over letting the bad guys get away. It took me a while to get them to stop, but I'm sure the ideas were still lingering at the time, and I had no control over what they thought.

It was close to the middle of the night when all the others went to sleep. I was still up however with Darkness floating around next to me. He was still shaken up by not being able to do much for me when we were in the volcano. I could hear his thoughts since he had unconsciously connected his mind with my own with his ghostly abilities. Something, though, caught his attention, and it caught mine as well. I stood up my bed and walked over to the window. When my other pokemon heard me move, they were all already up watching me as I approached the window. Gwyn was alone on the balcony on the first floor on the phone. I could vaguely hear the tone of her voice, which was worried.

"Darkness, keep us connected and find out what she's saying and let me hear it." My ghost pokemon nodded and hung in the shadows behind Gwyn and listened in.

"Violet, what the heck is going on? Why are you all not at Mt. Pyre? You left Levy all alone?"

"_You think I fucking meant to do that?_" The other champion's shrilled voice came over the phone, and Gwyn had to pull the device away from her ear. "_Team Aqua is the reason behind that!_"

My eyes widened as I continued to listen in as Gwyn pulled the pokenav back to her ear. "Sorry, Violet, but what is going on?"

"_Not much time to explain, Hon, but Team Aqua sent us all on a wild farfetch'd chase all over the region to Dewford Town and Sootopolis City, leaving Levy by herself at the mountain and they chose now to attack! They set up barricades to keep us at bay, dealing with their hundreds of members while we can't reach Levy! She's alone on the mountain with only two pokemon! I need you to get out there now, Gwyn!_"

"Violet, we just dealt with an entire Team Magma base today and Jezebel re-broke her hand and also broke her nose when she got into a fight with Maxie! I can't take any of them with me! They need time to rest!"

"_Then, go yourself, and leave Tristan with them, Gwyn! If we don't hurry Levy will -_"

I'd listened to enough of their conversation. I turned around back inside and called Darkness back through our minds. I returned all my pokemon and slowly climbed out the window and jumped into the middle of the darkness of the night. I landed on the edge of the pokemon center and took off into the woods, running as if my life depended on it.

Once I was far enough away from Gwyn, I released Acey and grabbed onto the back of her to jump onto her back. Acey leapt into the night air and we raced through the sky toward Mt. Pyre.

_I'm not letting you get away this time Uncle Archie; this time you'll pay!_

**Razi's Point of View:**

The Team Aqua invasion was going along just as easily as I expected with all the champions and their companions gone. Only the little girl Levy was left defending the summit from Team Aqua's bosses, and I was free to run throughout the area as I pleased while I waited for Jezebel Emery-Twain to arrive. I knew she would; she's too dead set on taking down her family, and with her father's entire side here, how could she pass up another opportunity to try again?

I phased through the walls, thanks to the abilities of my mismagius. I was hiding my presence within the graves and below the ground if members or the living came near me. The ghosts were too afraid to come close to me; the pokemon of this place were afraid of my power. I smirked as I watched the little girl defending an elderly couple and the single red orb that remained here on the top of the mountain without its twin, the blue orb that Maxie, my so called "leader," had already taken.

I wouldn't have long to wait; the feeling of overwhelming power and hatred was racing toward us from the west. I grinned as I looked out to the dim light of the volcano from the same direction she was coming from.

Jezebel would be here soon, and then, I would kill her.

**Witch's Note:**

**Yeowch! Damn, we had a lot going on! Jez is starting to get ahead of herself in my opinion, trying to take down her uncles in fist on fist fights with all the wounds she's taken on! And Razi is waiting for her. What do you think will happen? Will Razi take her life and the story be over? Or will Jezebel rise up and take a major baddy like Razi out? You'll just have to find out next week!**

**Alright, so like you all know, please remember to send in questions and Review for me! We're just past the halfway point in the story, but we only have a short amount of time before this story will end just like the other two, only another seventeen chapters left! And the major family drama will be over in six! Hope you guys are ready as lives come to an end! **

**A secret hint for your horror! At least one person will die by the end of the family dispute! Enjoy!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	21. Much Too Late

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 21: Much Too Late_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Through the night I raced on Acey's back toward the mountain called Mt. Pyre. She was speeding through the sky to where I had to hold on for dear life to stay on her as we bolted toward our destination, but I had no care so long as I arrived. I would endure anything that I needed to if it meant taking down my family for all the harm and destruction they've caused.

Mt. Pyre came into view quickly and I could already see the battle that was taking place on the mountain. Little Levy was using her two pokemon to face an entire army of Team Aqua grunts and admins, and even against my uncle and aunt. I could see nearly thirty or more pokemon against her two; it was wearing her down.

I had Acey dive to close in on the area before I felt something drag us down to the area before the summit, the exit that held the path to the summit was where Acey ended up landing and I held onto her tightly as I looked all around. "Be careful Acey, something's not right here."

"That would be just about right." I suddenly felt a thick veil of pain wash over my chest and I felt myself pulled off the body of my dragon. Acey cried out when she saw me, but an apparent pain seemed to wash over her as well. The pain kept her down to the ground, her head lowered while I was levitated over to a body that miraculously appeared out of a grave. There was no uniform on him- he seemed to be on neither side of the dispute- but his abilities to cause me pain told me otherwise. He was either part of one of the teams that just wasn't wearing their uniform at the time, or he was a third party that's been working in secret.

"W-wh-who are y-you…?"

"Well, aren't you nice enough to ask? I'm shocked I got such a kind greeting from the famous Jezebel Emery-Twain. Too bad I'm going to kill you." My eyes widened as he came out further into the light and I got a good look at his face. Shaggy looking red hair was on the top of his head and icy blue eyes glared at me. His face was not a hard one to miss.

"Razi…" I growled at the man.

"Thanks for taking such notice of me, Jezebel, but I do have to kill you, so let's just cut to the chase." His pokemon appeared behind him which apparently was using its ability on me to keep me in place. It was a ghost type from the purple coloring and the wispy ghost like woman look it had. It reminded me of a witch with red jewels hanging around its body and a hat on its head and a dress around it. Dark eyes looked at me with a hunger for something, and I was assuming it was my blood.

"Why are you doing this?" The sentence flew out of my mouth before I could stop it, but I let it slide since anything that could keep me alive longer to get out of his grip would be helpful.

"You really want to know that? I can't tell you all that much, but since you're going to die, I guess it's okay." He walked over to me and pulled out a knife, which he held in his hand, while he had his pokemon make me hand over my non-bandaged hand. He slit my palm open and I gasped at the pain and… the pleasure? I was petrified at my new found liking of the blood that spilled from my palm. Razi took my hand into his own and drank my blood from my palm. I felt his tongue slide over the cut and I felt every fiber of my being twitching at it from disgust. While I may have strangely liked the pain, I didn't exactly care for _him_.

He pulled back from my palm and my eyes widened as I saw the lower half of his face covered in blood red. It covered his lips like a blood red lipstick and rolled down his chin in beads. He grinned at me and I felt my body freeze as he slowly lifted his hands, also covered in my blood, and wrapped them around my neck.

"My sister wants me to kill you." He leaned in close and I felt his breath on my ear. "Violet tends to find people who she can make strong, and my sister doesn't want that to happen again. She wants me to end you before you can get to the point where you'll be too strong to beat, where you would become a changeling too."

"But… why? And why are you here at this specific location?"

"To prevent you from stopping Team Aqua from getting the red orb." He laughed and pulled back. "My sister and I planned from the beginning that we would provide incorrect information to Team Aqua and Team Magma to give them the wrong orbs so they couldn't control Groudon or Kyogre. We've been a part of their teams all along, hiding in the shadows and waiting for the right moment to strike. And the best part is…" he leaned in close again, this time to where his eyes were before my own, "none of them even suspect us." He chuckled. "You see, your uncles and aunts have been really messed up for a while now. I find it pretty hysterical that none of them realize what they're doing is wrong, not since that hypnosis was placed on them years ago."

"What?" He caught my attention in that moment more than ever before, hell, even in my _life_.

"Oh, but poor Jezebel had to suffer, from the hypnosis my sister's Pokemon used. We ruined the lives of five of your family members. Can you guess who?"

I knew of my uncles and aunts were all on that list, but the last one momentarily stumped me. My family wasn't very large, but…

_No way…_

"My… mother?"

Razi laughed. "I knew you'd figure it out, kid!" He ruffled my hair and stepped back for a moment. "But now I shouldn't give out any more information. Enjoy the afterlife!" He pulled out a knife and the world suddenly seemed to slow down as he threw it from over his head to plunge into my chest. I sucked in a breath as the fear and determination from the information he gave me hit me and I screamed and my hand flew out before me.

Razi gasped and stepped back. I had total control over my body again and I looked at every inch of it before I was frozen at my hands. They were claws, just like Blaze's. I looked up to the man I was just talking to and… his face was cut. My clawed hands, which had turned into three fingers compared to five, had sliced the side of his face right open. His eye was hit on the left side of his face and blood poured from the eye.

Razi suddenly felt the pain and cried out while I hit the ground and ran for my poor flygon that had been thrown to the side and kept prisoner. She was released from her hold as well and grabbed me before taking off into the air.

"Now, Acey! Fire blast!" My dragon launched an attack over at Razi as the small area was smothered in flames. Other than the fire blazing before us, everywhere else was filled with nothing but silence. It worried me greatly. I looked entirely around before I felt the air rush around behind me and I turned to the other side to see Razi. My eyes widened and I barely had time to gasp before something slammed into him and sent him flying back into the ground where I'd left him before.

I whipped my heard around to see Gwyn flying up in the form of Shocker while riding on the back of Ticky. Both of her fists were lit up with electrical power that she must have hit Razi with. I suddenly saw him in the gravel below where he phased back into the mountain and away from us.

"Jezebel!" I looked over at Gwyn for a moment as she looked at me with wide eyes with all the blood on my body and face. I suddenly was broken from the connection when I heard a scream and saw that Team Aqua was all gone other than a lone small one dangling from a cliff. My eyes widened when I saw who it was, the sleek black hair, only about nine…

"Go Acey!" My dragon dived for the little girl and we circled under her and I latched onto her body before she could fall. The sudden rush of wind threw off the bandanna she had on her hand and her tear filled eyes watched it take off just like her father, mother and brother had. She then suddenly turned to look up at me and her eyes nearly pushed themselves out of their sockets from how shocked she was to see me.

"Are you okay Nixie?" I gave her a light shake with my hand that wasn't broken. "Nix?"

"J-j-jezebel?" She shook her head. "No… Daddy said it was a lie. You're not Jezebel!"

"Would you stop that?" I glared down at the girl for a moment while she looked up at me in bewilderment. "Just because I don't act like I used to doesn't mean I'm not me, Nix." I sighed and pulled the girl close in my arms. "I am your cousin Nix. Ask me anything and I'll tell you what you want to know."

She looked at me before she began to sob again. "I… I wanna know… when we were little, what did you called me because you thought it was cool?"

_Cool? A name that I called her…_ It took me only a moment to figure that out. Her name was Nixie. The definition of that very name was water sprite. I remember calling her that often when we were little because she was just as happy and perky like a fairy would be, and I told her that a sprite and a fairy were the same thing (of course, I'd only been eight at the time).

"My little water fairy." Her hands rose to her mouth to cover it just in time before she entirely broke down and cried in my arms.

"Jez! It is you!" I nodded to the girl and tapped Acey's head and she looked back at me. I pointed down at the ground and my dragon complied. We landed near where Levy now stood alone with her pokemon and the elderly couple on top of the mountain. The red orb was gone, along with Team Aqua.

"Shit!" I clenched the fist I had that wasn't totally wrecked. "They got away with the red orb…"

"Jez!" Gwyn was quick to rush up to me and check me over. "Oh my Lugia; are you all right?"

"I'm fine; this looks worse than it actually is." I pointed over at Levy. "Go help her first, she needs it." Gwyn's head turned to Levy and she nodded to me before hurrying over to the eleven year old and healing her. Levy was completely knocked out, as were her two pokemon that she had with her. Gwyn returned them to their pokeballs and pulled Levy into her arms.

"And now Team Aqua has the red orb. Oh man, Violet's going to be pissed…"

"Even more so when she finds out this was all Rose's doing." Gwyn's eyes widened when she looked over at me for saying that comment.

"What?" Gwyn's voice was stern all of a sudden and she looked quite pissed. "How?"

"I'll explain on the way, but we should head back to Lilycove now; there's nothing of interest of anyone here now with the orbs taken."

Gwyn didn't seem too happy about that, but she abided by what I said and we flew on our flying pokemon back to Lilycove hospital for us to be treated and looked at.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It'd been a few hours since Gwyn and I had arrived back at Lilycove and we'd all gotten properly helped there. My palm was stitched up and covered while Levy's wounds were also taken care of, along with her pokemon that nearly fought to death to keep that orb from being taken. Gwyn, after all this, called up Violet and explained everything that I had told her to the eldest champion. Violet was not pleased to say the least, and planned to gather everyone at the hospital so we could discuss plans.

I, on the other hand, had another mission to take care of. Now that I had Nixie believing me, I had to send her off with someone so she would be safe in case her father or the organization came looking for her. The only option was my father, and man… did I have a shit ton to explain to him.

I grabbed my pokenav from my pocket and typed in his number. I was uneasy as I waited for him to respond, but he picked it up with no problem.

"_Jezebel!_" My father greeted me happily on the other side of the line. "_How are you doing, honey?_"

"…Not so good Dad…"

"_Honey?_" His voice changed immediately. "_What's going on?_"

"This is more of a conversation for in person, but I'll give you the basic rundown. Our family is connected to Team Aqua and Team Magma." I paused as I thought over my words carefully. "Dad, Uncle Archie is the head of Team Aqua with Aunt Shelly as his second in command. The same is true in Team Magma with Uncle Maxie as its leader and Aunt Courtney as its second in command. Things are getting bad down here, Dad, and they even involved their children, but it's not entirely their fault because they were hypnotized by Rosalie Agustino's pokemon from over many years back, and Mom was hypnotized too! Its making them all do crazy and unexplainable things and the reason why they're all acting different-"

"_Jez, slow down!_" My father called out over the line and I instantly went silent. "_You know?_"

"I know what?"

"_That our family is a part of these organizations?_" My eyes widened.

"Wait, _you_ know?"

"_I've known for a while now. There were some things that happened when you were a lot younger and around the time your mother went crazy that I started to notice, and then I figured it out, but I didn't want to get you involved, and I was waiting for the right time to confront Archie and Maxie. Of course, that never happened… But anyway, what you're telling me would explain a lot. I'll be over in Lilycove to hear the entire story as soon as I can, Jez. I'm leaving right as soon as I close up the gym._"

"Thanks Dad." I smiled before I laughed nervously. "Oh, um Dad? Just to let you know, I may look a bit… messed up when you see me."

"_What do you mean by that, Jezebel?_" I flinched at his use of my full first name.

"Well… I have a broken hand… and a broken nose… and a sliced open palm on my other hand… and a few black and blue bruises…" I felt myself confidence dwindle with every little thing wrong with me that I told him. I could feel the anger radiating off my father, even through the phone. I could hear him glaring.

Suddenly the line went dead and my eyes widened. _Aw hell… here we go…_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was only a couple hours later when we all gathered together with the members of the IPHP League and began to go over the events that took place and what was soon to come. Violet, after hearing the story of what Razi told me from Gwyn, went to do a bit more research before we would put any sort of plan into action. Vince and Aaron were both absent from the group. Violet had said that Aaron didn't want to leave Levy's side in case someone came for her or her pokemon (with them both being legendaries). Vince, on the other hand, had left for the next town already, due to a notification that Team Magma members had been sent to the space center there. Violet didn't want to take any chances and sent over Vince immediately. We would join him soon, but at least someone with a full team of pokemon would be there in case anything happened.

My father arrived soon enough, out of breath and red in the face. One look at me nearly turned his face purple until Violet and Gwyn quickly stepped in to calm him down. While my father wasn't happy with the wounds all over my body, he was glad to see I was okay and now that we both knew, it was easier to talk about the subject of our family. Dad had apparently known for years. I was horrified to hear that that was how long they were (and still were) under the control of that hypnotic trance Rose put on them.

Violet soon brought our meeting together and had us gather in a conference room in the hospital. Alex was at the computer beside her with a slide show up and ready for all of us. The room went dark and we all took our seats to listen to her speak.

"All right, everyone. Due to events and new information that's come up, we're pressed for time to stop the schemes of Team Aqua and Team Magma even more so than before." She turned to Alex and he handed her a small device which she pressed the side button and the image on the screen before us changed to that of two legendary pokemon. One of them being Groudon, whom I remember from when I faced my uncle yesterday. The other one I didn't recognize, but from the markings on its body and the appearance of a water type. I had to assume the beast was none other than Kyogre.

"With new information we've gathered, apparently Rose has been behind these two teams all along. From what I can only assume was supposed to be testing the strength of a pokemon's attack on some random people has turned into a region-wide civil war between those manipulated and those that are not. Under the influence of Rose, Maxie Emery and his wife Courtney along with Archie Twain and his wife Shelly are all under the hypnotic trance, as well as Brittany Emery-Twain. We're not sure if she has a role in all of this or not. Norman Twain," my father looked directly at the woman, "Once this meeting is over, we need you to head back to Petalburg with your niece and go find Brittany and get her to the nearest hospital. We need to be sure that the hypnosis used on her won't be used to help Archie or Maxie and what they're trying to do."

My father nodded to her and held Nixie and I a little closer.

"Next, we move onto the main parts of this meeting, dealing with Archie and Maxie and stopping them, especially Archie." The screen changed to that of the red orb and some information showed up on it with the image of Groudon. "The red orb is only supposed to control the power of the legendary beast known as Groudon, not Kyogre. By using the incorrect orbs, the pokemon will be out of control and will use their abilities to destroy this region before spreading to the entire world, which is what happened when Maxie used the blue orb on Groudon. The same will happen to Kyogre if we don't put a stop to this. The only problem is that we have miles of ocean where Kyogre could be located and Archie has a submarine. We have no idea where he could be."

Violet changed the slide again to where a map of the water routes were located on the eastern side of the region and the cities included. "Gwyn, I want you and Tristan to start exploring these underwater locations. The rest of us will remain in Mossdeep where we will prevent Team Magma from taking the fuel from the space station and blowing up Mt. Chimney." She then turned to me and my friends. "And as for you four, I want you to sit these next set of missions out to recover."

"What? You can't be serious, Violet!" I jumped from my seat and shouted at the woman. She never batted an eye after my shout.

"I am serious, Jezebel. You and the others have taken on some serious wounds after your last few fights with Team Aqua and Team Magma, not to mention that you faced Razi and just barely made it out of there alive if Gwyn had not been there to save you."

"But-"

"No buts!" The woman's voice bellowed over my own.

"Violet, stop it." I was shocked to see that it was Gwyn who spoke out against her sister champion. The older woman looked at her in surprise, as did most everyone in the room. I may not have known Gwyn all that well, but she was not someone to go against Violet, ever. So this was a historic event indeed.

"What?"

"Violet, this girl needs to keep going on the path she's on." Gwyn stood up from her seat and stood next to Violet in a challenging manner. It was probably the only way to get through that woman's hard head. "She _is_ strong enough, and while she may not have been able to fight Razi on her own, she was able to stand up to him and hold her own. She even made him admit his and Rose's plans to us. She's begun to become a changeling! Her hands turned to those of her blaziken when I saw her; she left a large new scar on his face that's even bigger than the one you put on Rose's four years ago. She's more than strong enough to face Maxie and Archie and stop them, and she should be the one to take them down. Having something drastically change in their family may be enough for them to break the hypnosis on them, and them finding out that the girl that was fighting them all along was Jez? That may be enough to do it!"

"And what if the world goes into chaos? What then?"

"Then we'll face it like all other challenges that we've faced before!"

"You don't seem to understand that the world would be left in the hands of a thirteen year old girl!"

"And how old were you when you saved the world from Rose for the first time?" Gwyn's last argument was enough to halt the woman's next retort. "Violet, face it, this girl is just like we were, and stronger than we ever were back then. She's got the heart and the strength behind her that we did; she's becoming a changeling sooner than we ever did." They both looked over at me. "This is also a family battle; Rose messed with her family, and with too many members. You know as well as I do that anything that has to do with family has to be settled by family, until every end is tied up." Gwyn looked back to the woman. "Right?"

Violet paused for a few moments and just thought. The entire room was silent as the woman's eyes either dulled or glittered with the ideas that flashed behind them. Finally, after a few moments, Violet looked up and over at me.

"Fine. Gwyn has raised the key points that you do need to be there, and that this is also your fight. So, a change of plans, then." Gwyn moved off to the side while Violet turned off the projector. "Jezebel, you and your friends will be the ones guarding the space station while the rest of us will be hiding a short distance off until they attack, and we'll assist you, but Maxie and Courtney will be your fight."

"Thank you, Violet…" She nodded.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted; I tend to forget that I was your age once as well. Before you go, however, I need to tend to those wounds of yours." She pulled me toward her and became a changeling of her umbreon. "Moonlight." Dark healing energy surrounded me as Violet began to heal my bruises, breaks and tears.

"Morning sun!" I turned around to look over at Gwyn healing me as well. She grinned at me in the form of her espeon.

"Now this won't take away all your pain, especially in your broken hand, but I can at least heal your wounds so while you'll still feel the pain, you can use your hand." While Violet was healing me, she pulled away the bandages of my hands and I watched as the black and blue marks faded away along with the cut on my palm. I started to move the fingers on my broken hand, and while it hurt like hell, I could do it, just like Violet said.

"Thanks you guys…"

"Now we'd best be getting going. We have many things to do and places to check to find Archie and Maxie before the world gets turned into turmoil." Alex rose from his seat at the computer and Violet and Gwyn cut off their healing ability. I could still feel the pain, but it had dulled and my physical wounds were gone. "Let's get going people."

Everyone flocked out of the room in the next moment. Gwyn and Violet seemed to wait for us at the door while I was left with my father and cousin.

"I'm going to take Nixie back to my place. She'll stay with me until this is all over." My father hugged me tightly. "I'll deal with your mother; if you find any of your other cousins and convince them to come back, send them to me. Free our family and stop them." He kissed my forehead. "I love you Jezebel."

"I love you too Dad; be careful." I pulled back. "They may come back after you for Nixie."

"Daddy won't." I turned my head to look at my little nine year old cousin before she rushed into my arms. "Daddy hasn't cared for a long time now… not unless we wanted to help him with all the bad stuff he was doing!"

"It must be the same thing with the others." I held Nixie and let her cry on me while I looked up at my father. "Caspian, Enya and Edan must all be going through the same turmoil."

"I'll take care of them; just send them my way, honey." Dad pulled Nixie back away from me and picked her up into his arms and let her cry on his neck while he led me out. I nodded to my father one last time before I walked off with Gwyn and Violet to where the others were ready to head to Mossdeep City.

I turned around for just a moment to see my father take off in the opposite direction to head back to Petalburg with Nixie still in his arms. I smiled, happy to see our family slowly healing the scars we had as we headed toward saving what little I thought we had left.

**Caspian's Point of View:**

To say I was pissed was an understatement as I paced throughout the underground cave looking for my sister. My father had just noted that my baby sister was most likely off playing somewhere after the mission. I didn't really care about these missions at all; all I wanted was my little sister back.

After looking through the seafloor cavern that my father had found while he was searching for Kyogre, I'd given up on the idea that my sister was there. I'd left the underwater cavern with my huntail helping me to the surface of the water. With huntail's help, I managed to make it all the way to Slateport by the time nightfall hit. My poor pokemon was tired and I hurried over to a pokemon center (after, of course, changing out of my uniform) and I called my uncle. My uncle would know what to do, and it was about time I told him about what my father and mother were doing.

"_Hello?_" My eyes widened when I heard the really high pitched voice over the phone.

"Nixie?" She gasped on the other side of the phone. "How are you at Uncle Norman's? Wait. Never mind. Are you alright?"

"_I'm okay. Jezebel brought me to Uncle Norman and he took me to his home. I'm staying there right now while he talks to Auntie Brittany. Oh, guess what, Caspian! Mommy and Daddy have been hypnotized since we were little! Auntie Courtney and Uncle Maxie too!_"

"They're all hypnotized? That would explain a lot…" I groaned. "So do I have to walk all the way to Uncle Norman's house?"

"_I guess so. He's not here right now, but he left Slaking with me. We could come meet you somewhere._"

"No, don't. I'll just meet you there. I'm glad to hear from you, little sis. I was so worried when you didn't come back."

"_I was worried for you, too. Uncle Norman's gonna be happy that you're coming here. Hurry and we can surprise him!_"

"I'll be there as soon as I can, Nix. Keep the lights on for me."

"_Okay!_" She hung up then and I put away the phone before I left the pokemon center and traveled to the north to meet up with the river that would lead me to Oldale Town, right next door to where my sister was.

**Brittany's Point of View:**

My life was coming to an end; my doctor said I'd only be lasting a few more weeks at best. My time was cut down even shorter than I would have liked. I had out my diaries at the moment, re-reading through them and remembering my adventure back when I was young, when I was like Jezebel. I adored my daughter, and I knew she'd do just fine on her own. My being horrible to her has given her the desire to learn all the things she needs in life. She's finally made friends that she's wanted since she was young. My family hasn't contacted me since the day I'd ruined their Christmas, but they would have so many better ones after this.

While still looking through my diaries, I heard a knock on my door. I looked up and blinked; there was a male at my door from the heavy pounding I could hear. I climbed out of my chair and slowly made my way over to the door after wrapping my blanket around myself.

Once I opened the door, I was shocked to see it was my husband there, panting as if he'd run the entire way from Petalburg to here. I backed away from him and released my door from my hand, but he was quick to push it out of the way and walk into my home. With the light of my lamp now helping his eyes, he saw me in my weakened state and his eyes widened.

"Brittany?" Norman was quick to close the door behind him and stare at my pale skin and heavy wrinkles. "What happened to you?"

"Why are you here?" I snapped at him. "Shouldn't you be off with your precious daughter or something?"

_I didn't know what was coming over me. I loved Jezebel. Whatever was happening, it was affecting even the way I want to say things. I didn't want to say that!_

"Brittany, enough. I know you're under a hypnosis that's over a few years old and I'm here to help you break it!" Norman quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, which was quite easy with what little strength I had left. "Now I'm getting you to the hospital by order of the head of the IPHP League. Let's go."

"Wait! Norman! What's going on?" I tried to pull against him, but he wouldn't let up.

"Our family is what's up! All of them are hypnotized just like you are and because of that, Maxie and Archie are going to take this world to the grave!"

A sudden rush went through my body, an incredible pounding in my head that just wouldn't stop. I held my head and cried out as it felt like the pain was spreading everywhere. I could see Norman talking to me through the crack in my eyes… but I couldn't hear a word he was saying…

And suddenly I wasn't there anymore. I was in the past. I was young again, just after my cancer had come back… I saw them… my brother and Archie and their wives… with that hypno and that woman… We were out in the middle of the Petalburg Woods, no one was around…

"You'll never remember that I was here, but you will take over the world. Take the ancient beasts of water and earth and use them to create your dream worlds, but at the price of anything that gets in your way or that you must use. Those things will be used to their full extent, and then will be gone." The hypno grinned while a younger and unscarred Rose placed their spell on my family.

"Leave them alone!" Their eyes were drawn from my family to me. The woman ran up and grabbed my arm and held me in place. I screamed, but that didn't seem to stop her.

"Well what do we have here? Someone playing hero? Pathetic!" She threw me to the ground. "Hypno, read her mind." The pokemon willingly did so and allowed its trainer to search through my mind for whatever she wanted from me. "Oh… what a predicament you're in; so sorry to hear about that. Why don't we make it worse, shall we?" She gave me a malicious grin before her pokemon waved its amulet in front of my face and I was instantly under the spell.

"Now, what to do… Oh I know! I know you have a daughter. Why not make her life hell, just so she doesn't feel anything when you die?" The woman came in close and breathed directly into my face. "Make her hate you, make her want nothing to do with you, make her life a living hell, and when she finally leaves you in the dust… go and rot in hell."

Everything vanished after that. I couldn't remember anything else but finding myself in present day with Norman. He was hovering over my body that apparently fell to the ground.

"Brittany!"

"Norman?" I slowly looked up at him, holding my head. Everything came rushing back through my weakened brain and I gasped. "Oh no! What have I done?"

"Brittany, we can fix this! Let's get you to a hospital!" He was quick to pick me up in his arms and start to carry me out. I wrapped my arms around enjoying the moment for only a second before reality flashed before me again.

"I can't, Norman! My cancer came back all those years ago!" My husband stopped in his tracks and looked down at me in the middle of the route. "Norman… I only have a few weeks left…"

"No… Brittany, no, we'll fix this!"

"You can't fix me, Norman; I've already been battling this for eight years! Eight years, Norman! That's how long we've all been under that woman's spell and suffering! I won't last much longer!"

"No!" Norman refused to believe. "No! No! NO!"

"Norman… my wonderful husband… I'm so sorry…"

He clenched his fist under my body. "I'm gonna kill that woman… I'm gonna kill her for doing this to you if it's the last thing I do!"

**Witch's Note:**

**Holy shit! The shit really just hit the fan and exploded! Now that was just plain nuts! Rose was behind everything? What about this hypno? Where did it come from and how is it connected to Rose? Does anyone have a guess?**

**Oh how I loved writing this chapter, and now its time for you all to tell me what you all thought of it! Please remember to Review and Send in Questions for me and the characters!**

**Love you all and see you next week with the next chapter and more drama!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	22. Maxie's Mistake

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 22: Maxie's Mistake_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Violet had us head over to Mossdeep next to stop Team Magma from getting their hands on the rocket fuel that was located there. The note that was received by the space station that Violet was called out to was still there when we arrived and was placed in an evidence bag for testing. It certainly came from Team Magma due to the fact that the fingerprints that were on it were my uncle's. Violet had us patrol the inside of the building while she and the others were outside and hiding away in the woods surrounding the station. No one was to interact with them while we waited for Team Magma to make their move.

Days passed, however, and there was no sign of them. To pass the time, we would play card games and interact with those that worked at the station. It was very boring, but we dealt with it after how hard we fought with Violet to try and get here and keep on going with the operation.

Thankfully we finally decided to go one at a time to head over to the Mossdeep gym in order to get some action and get our next badge out of the way. We sent out Aria first since she was going mad with being stuck at the space center. She came back with her badge only an hour later and lunch for all of us from the sandwich joint down the road. The day after that, we sent out Casey since he was dying to see what type of pokemon that the gym leaders had. When he came back, he had another couple pokemon added to his pokedex and some pizza for us all. After the two of them, Mattie and I didn't really care who went next, so I sent Mattie because I wanted to wait in case my uncle showed up. Mattie hurried over there then, and from what I heard from him when he got back, it was a hard battle since he didn't really have any pokemon that had the advantage; in fact, he had a couple that that were at a disadvantage to them. The twin gym leaders, Liza and Tate, were psychic type gym leaders as well as double battlers. I'd be allowed to use two pokemon against theirs. It would be a double battle that probably wouldn't last long, but I wasn't about to say anything because it could bite me in the ass. And I already knew which pokemon I'd use.

I left the space center with my pokemon on hand for our gym battle. We were starting to relax a bit since my uncle still hadn't showed up to steal the fuel. But we still were hanging around in case he was planning on Violet or the others not being around.

I stretched when I got to the base of the stairs. Then I heard the call of a noctowl. I blinked and pretended to go look at the flowers while walking over in the direction of who called me. From the bushes came the hidden outline of a woman who slipped something to me. I plopped it into my pocket before I took off and rushed into the actual town and off the mountain where the station had been located.

This was the way that Violet and I communicated when she needed to tell me something. To prevent my uncle from knowing she was on the island, she and the other members of her IPHP League hid out in the forest that was outside the mountainside or in the caves on the mountain to stay out of sight. Violet wanted no communication with our phones to make sure that they didn't detect where the signal was from. If she needed to ask or give me something, she would give a noctowl call outside the station and whoever may have been outside knew to come and examine the flowers and bushes or hang out there for a while before being slipped a note or item or both.

When I was a good ways into town, I pulled out the item that Violet had slipped to me. I was shocked to see that it was her own pokedex, dark blue in color and worn from the four to five years she's had it. I opened the item up and found a note inside of it.

_Jez,_

_I realize that this may be a shock to you that you have my pokedex, but, for starters, I trust you, girl. Second, I have a feeling that you'll need it while at your gym battle. I'll get a new page on my pokedex from it and if it's your pokemon, when you update your pokedex, I'll let you copy over the information on mine to yours. I have a feeling that Darkness is going to have a good day…_

_Violet_

I blinked at the note. _Well... okay then, thanks Vi._ I pocketed her pokedex with mine and I hurried off to the gym. My pokemon and I were anxious for a battle. It'd been almost a week since I faced off against Razi (well, more like he was about to kill me and I kept myself alive long enough for Gwyn to save me) and I was quite ready for a good battle to make myself stronger. I only need a bit more of a push before I would be strong enough to handle Rose and Razi, and not have to rely on Violet or Gwyn.

I shook my head from my thoughts as I made it over to the gym. Outside of it I noticed that there was a pokemon on the outside of the gym who stood alone, and there was no door to get inside. But I was prepared for this. The others had all noted how they had to talk to the pokemon first and it let them inside. The pokemon outside of the building was a claydol, a psychic and ground type pokemon that actually looks like a clay doll, but is much larger than a doll in size. It reminded me (the size of it anyway) of a small pudgy looking woman with a large head, covered in paint. It's black in color with red and white lines all over its body with red eyes that are decorated around its body in a single ring around the eye level of its head.

"My name is Jezebel Emery-Twain, and I'm here to request a battle with the gym leaders." The pokemon looked up at me with its semi closed eyes and nodded before its eyes completely closed and it lowered its head. It took a few moments to lightly groan before looking back up to me and nodded. Its eyes opened wide and they glowed red before I teleported from the outside of the building to a large battlefield inside.

"Yes!" I looked to the other side of the field to look at a set of twins in identical clothing. The two of them grinned at each other before they turned to me. They both possessed dark black hair, though the girl's was longer and she had it framed around her face, but they both had hair long enough to roll up into a bun on each of their heads. Some sort of white fluffy looking object was poked through the buns on either side. Their clothes were a set of blue pants and shirts that were button ups slightly more to the side then the center. The pale white skin stood out last as they floated into the air and landed into their battle box on the other side of the field.

"We've been-"

"-waiting to battle you!"

"For a long time!"

The twins seemed to have one speak while the other finished their sentence. Then both speak out at once? I blinked at the two of them as they only widened their grins at me.

"We're twins!" the young boy said, no more then maybe the same age as me. "I'm Tate-"

"-and I'm Liza!" the girl cried out in squeals.

"We're the twin gym leaders of Mossdeep! Tate and Liza Mana!" They both cheered before the girl jumped in place and the boy clapped his hands.

"And you're Jezebel-"

"-Emery-Twain!"

"Norman's daughter! We've been looking forward to battling you!"

"And I've been looking forward to battling you two as well." I nodded to them. "So shall we get started?"

"Yes!" Both the twins cried out together and they threw out their two pokeballs.

"Go Solrock!"

"Go Lunatone!"

Out of the pokeballs came two rock and psychic type pokemon. The first one called "solrock" was one who resembled a sun with a dark orange body and tan-yellow rock like fringes hanging out of the sides that made up the tails on a sun. It also had a set of red eyes hidden behind its mostly closed eye lids. The other, called a "Lunatone," was a rock that resembled a crescent shaped moon. It had large red eyes that looked as if it was wide awake and incapable of sleeping. Both were pokemon I'd come across often in Meteor Falls when I was training with the others for a while. Casey had a field day when he saw them for the first time, but he kept forgetting to get their information while he was battling.

"All right then; let's go Acey! Darkness!" My shiny flygon and my duskull came out of their pokeballs and landed out on the field. "Now let's get our seventh badge!"

"That's only if-"

"-you beat us!"

The two twins talked after one another like they had before and grinned as they threw their hands out before them to the field.

"Now Solrock! Use flamethrower!"

"Lunatone! Use ice beam!"

Both attacks came hurtling at me at such a speed that I was shocked that they came at all. Acey was quick to dive to the side and take Darkness in her mouth before she led both of them out of the way of the attacks. Ice would have been a horrible hit for Acey, being a ground and dragon type pokemon. Darkness would have fared decently against both of the attacks due to him being a ghost type and not weak or strong against fire and ice.

"Nice Acey!" I clenched my fist and grinned. "Let's go, you two! Darkness use night shade on the two of them and Acey, you use crunch!"

Darkness vanished from sight and then Acey leapt into the air to glide on her wings toward the opposing pokemon. The twins looked around for my vanished pokemon while Acey sped toward them. Liza's eyes glowed as Acey approached lunatone and it moved out of the way. Darkness suddenly was where the lunatone had moved to and grinned at it before he threw out his attack, catching the pokemon off guard.

"Lunatone!" Liza cried out.

But things just got more problematic for them. Acey snaked around and launched her teeth into the solrock. The pokemon screamed before it threw Acey's body off it, only to have her teeth scrape against its body in the process. It cried out as it took serious damage with only the first hit.

"Solrock!" Tate's eyes went wide as he looked out to his pokemon worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"It's not going to be when I'm through with it!" I threw out my hand toward the battlefield. "Attack again!"

Both of my pokemon rounded back again before rushing back toward the weakened pair. Acey cried out before she extended her teeth and Darkness summoned another dark haze around his body which he sent flying at the pokemon.

"Protect!" The twins cried out in unison before shields appeared around the pokemon and prevented the attack from hitting them. I hissed at the action, seeing how I now had to fight a shield for _both_ of those pokemon.

"Latias damn it…" Both of my pokemon came back to my side and they waited on my orders while I waited to see the shields go down on the other side of the field. Liza and Tate grinned at me when they finally had some sort of hand against me.

"Take that, Jezebel, we're-"

"-not about to be defeated by just-"

"-A couple of attacks!"

The speaking like that was a bit on the annoying side. I felt a vein popping on the side of my head as I watched them laughing on the other side of the field.

"And I'm not about to be stopped by a couple of shields!" I turned to Acey. "Dig!"

"Gya!" She dived into the ground and dug away, soon vanishing behind a cloud of dust before the cloud vanished and only a hole remained.

I then turned over to Darkness and nodded to him. "Store as much ghostly energy as you can into a single shadow ball attack." He grinned back at me before he moved off to just the side as he focused the energy of a shadow ball before him and as the seconds ticked by, it slowly got larger.

"Protect!" The twins cried out again and another protective field appeared before them.

I grinned as I turned to look at Darkness, who had a shadow ball larger than Acey, and suddenly it expanded to three times larger and took up the entire side of our field and I couldn't see above it.

That's when I pointed back out to the field. "Now Acey! Smack them into the center of the shadow ball!" My ground and dragon pokemon whipped her body out of the ground and her tail snapped at the two protected Pokemon; while it didn't break the shield, it tossed them toward Darkness' attack. They cried out as their light covered bodies were swarmed by the darkness of the shadow ball that ate them up whole.

"Solrock!"

"Lunatone!"

Both twins gasped as they watched the attack eat up their pokemon and not a speck of the shield from their protect attack could be seen inside. Liza had her mouth covered in worry while Tate had his fists gripped tightly.

Abruptly, the shadow ball exploded over all our heads and I actually fell over from the impact since it was right over my head. My eyes widened at the power as the two pokemon just taken in were hurled out of it, due to the explosion, and sent back to the other side of the field where they crashed through the walls behind their trainers. The trainers both turned to look at their pokemon slowly pull themselves from the wall and then turn back to my side of the field. Fearful looks were on both of their faces.

"And now we finish this up." I grinned and turned to my ghost type. "Alright Darkness-"

But I was cut off then by an amazing glowing from his body. It was covered in a bright white light that overtook him entirely before I saw Darkness float down to the ground.

_How did Violet guess?_ I snorted a laugh as I thought about how right the woman had been. I watched as my ghost pokemon's shape changed to that of a two legged creature that seemed to be wrapped up in a sort of material, his skull also seemed to stay in place, but certainly became much larger in size. When the light broke from around my pokemon, I saw that it was a grey wrapping that was around him and only one hole was left in his skull on his head that the single red eye looked out of. A small piece of the bandages hung off of the back of his head and a couple of bandages hung from his back while arms extended themselves out of his body.

I pulled out my pokedex to look up the new information on Darkness. _Dusclops, the beckon pokemon and the evolved form of duskull. It is thought that its body is hollow with only a special ball of fire burning inside. However, no one has been able to confirm this theory as fact. When it opens its mouth, it sucks everything in as if it were a black hole. Dusclops nests are few to none and only tend to be found in the Sky Pillar on route one-thirty. _

"All right then Darkness; let's try this again, shall we?" I looked at my pokemon and I was shocked to watch him not move. He was completely still for a few moments and I wondered if my beloved ghost pokemon was no longer going to listen to me when he moved. He reached in behind the skull on his head and pulled out the cloth that was just oozing darkness right off of it. Rapidly it became white and so did Darkness once again before the cloth phased into his body.

_Whoa! He hardly got to even stand in his own new evolution before he's evolving again? How? And how did Violet know?_ All my questions at the time died on the top of my tongue as I watched my pokemon evolve for a second time in the same minute! The body of my ghost type's next evolution lost its newly acquired legs and became free-floating again, but still possessed its arms, though longer this time. His skull seemed to vanish and his head became almost oval shaped. I saw an antenna form out of the back of his head with a ring around the end of it before the white light shattered around him and his form completed. He looked like the top half of an extremely muscular guy that was black in color with a wispy tail on his lower end of his chest with a mouth drawn in gold along with golden ringed eyes on his chest. Gold guard bands were latched onto his upper arms while a light grey shield was placed over his head. It was frayed over the shoulders but solid over the face, other than the blood red eye that leaked out of the hole in his face that was surrounded by a black void. The antenna was gold on the top of his head and my pokemon sighed when he evolved.

I held up my pokedex at him and it took a moment for the device to respond before it came up with the sign that said: _no data_. I blinked in surprise at how I had a second pokemon that was not from this region. Then I remembered I had Violet's pokedex. I pulled the old blue pokedex out of my pocket and held it up to Darkness. This time I heard a beep before the pokedex showed me a picture of my pokemon and some facts.

_Dusknoir, the gripper pokemon and the evolved form of dusclops with a reaper cloth. The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there. This feared pokemon is said to travel to worlds unknown. It is said to take lost spirits into its pliant body and guide them home. There are no known dusknoir nests in the region. _

_A pokemon from another region…_ I grinned; it was a second evolution and there would be no other. My pokemon was now in his strongest form, evolving from a duskull to a dusclops and then a dusknoir all in a minute!

"Now we're talking!" I grinned up at Darkness and he laughed as well, his thick chest rising and falling because of it.

"Oh no…" I could hear both of the twins suck in a breath of worry as they looked at my pokemon that just evolved twice.

"Acey, come back over here. Let's let Darkness finish this up and grab our gym badge." My dragon nodded and came back over to my side while Darkness took over the field. "Finish them off, Darkness! Use your new attack, ominous wind!"

Darkness laughed mercilessly before his red eye glowed, along with the two golden ones on his chest, and the mouth drawn on his chest opened. From it flew out a black and purple wind that instantly brought a chill to the air. The attack flooded the air and gusted toward the other side of the field where the lunatone and solrock were recovering. The two of them were slammed with the wind right over the heads of their trainers. All of them cried out, both trainers and pokemon, as the attack hit and the lunatone and solrock were smothered inside the dark wind before I watched both of them fall to the ground.

"Yes!" Darkness turned around to face me before he closed the mouth on his stomach and floated down to me, picking me up in his arms and carrying me happily around while Acey snuggled her head up in my arms as well.

"Jezebel." I turned to the twins' voices and watched as the two of them returned their pokemon and slowly walked over to where I was.

"You were incredible in that pokemon battle; you had us within your trap-"

"-from the get-go. Before and after your duskull evolved! So now…"

"We present you with the mind badge!" The twins then teleported before me in the air and Liza was the one to hand over the small badge to me. It was shaped like a heart with a hole in it and it looked like the two ends at the top were overlapping each other. I added that other badge to my case with the other six that were already there.

"Only one more to go." I grinned at my pokemon. "We're almost there, you guys!"

"If we may…" Tate focused my attention on him and his twin. "The next gym you're going to be-"

"-going to is located at Sootopolis." Liza finished his sentence.

"We hope we get to battle you again and good luck!"

I then saw the twins were gone from my vision and I was outside of the dome once more. The claydol looked at me once and gave a smile before closing its eyes and lowering its head. Darkness and Acey set me down and I turned away from the gym and headed back into the town.

"Well, let's go get some food then; it is about lunch time, and I believe that you two deserve it, especially you, Darkness." He laughed and floated after me while the rest of my pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs and we all hurried down to the sandwich joint again. I felt like having a good sandwich.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I'd called the others a short while ago and let them know what I had gotten at the gym and that I was heading over for sandwiches. I got a list of all the food I was supposed to get for all of them and set off to the shop to get what we all wanted. My pokemon and I actually sat around in the shop while I was ordering food and talked with one another, especially with Darkness, who managed to evolve twice in the same day for our gym battle. His new form was incredible and I was quite happy that Violet had slipped me her pokedex. Darkness was also much more expressive since his evolution. He tended to laugh a lot and joke around with the others. Acey loved it the best since she was a joker since she was a little trapinch. Blade and Blaze commented on his cool new form as well, but the two of them were still the well glued together pair that acted as my protectors; they have for the longest time now, fulfilling their promise to me...

Out of all of them, Silky was the only one who was a bit sour as she hung around on my head. It's been quite a while since she was involved in a gym battle; in fact, the last one she was in was my second gym badge. Silky was not pleased, even with all the trainers and training she gets. I promised her, however, that I would let her have a crack at the next gym battle since she would have somewhat of an advantage over it with her grass-type moves. It was a water-type gym next, and I hoped that she could battle for most of it, and if not, I had Darkness as a part of my team, and Blade could help out and wouldn't be affected by their moves.

Once we had our sandwiches ordered and wrapped up for the road, I carried the bag while my pokemon all gathered around me as we walked back. Our conversations were about the gym battle, and how we were still so stunned about Darkness' evolution.

"I have to admit, that was pretty badass there, Darkness. Two evolutions in one gym battle? I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Dusk…" Darkness laughed with his new heavy voice he had, much deeper than the voice he had before, but still just as wispy from being a ghost type pokemon. He was getting embarrassed from how many times we praised him, but how could we not after the events that had taken place?

"Well, regardless of everything, I'm really proud of you Darkness… in fact, I'm proud of every single one of you." I looked around at my team that surrounded me as they curiously looked back. "I really haven't said this enough, but I'm so happy that we're all back together now and really are a family, like we always wanted." I gazed into all their eyes and looked up above my head at Silky who sat there. "Each and every one of you have been there for me on my journey, as well as at some point in my life. You all were there for me when I needed help with my mother in the past and you all gave me such amazing friendships that I cherish. Not to mention that, after all that's happened to us, I'm so glad that none of you have left my side."

I heard so many cries from my pokemon after that last statement. _We wouldn't do that! We would never! _I sighed as I looked at all of them before I placed my hand into the middle of all of us and they stopped instantly.

"Forever are we a team, and I hope it stays that way." I came to a more serious face that showed to all of them. "Without you guys, I wouldn't have been able to become the person I am today, or work up the strength I needed to do things that I have done. Now isn't any different; I need all of your help to take down my uncles and free them from the spell Rose put on them years ago. Can I count on you all like I have before?"

Multiple cries rang out and their hands were thrown in on top of my own. Silky was the only one of the lot who had to jump off my hand and practically sit on the pile because of how short her arms were, no more than a few inches long. She and the rest of my pokemon all looked back at me with serious looks before they all started to agree.

"Blaze."

"Gallade."

"Beau!"

"Gra!"

"Dusk…"

I smiled at all of them before a tear let loose from the corner of my eye. "Thanks you guys…"

A shocking quake soon brought us out of our moment and Blaze and Blade raced for me as we were all knocked off our feet. I landed on the two of them as they pulled me atop them to keep me safe from the ground. Acey, Darkness and Silky all took to the sky and were quick to quick to grab us and haul us into the air with arms or abilities.

Locals were screaming as the ground shook and they were running for cover and to escape the quakes that were happening on the island. I whipped around my head to look and see any damage and quickly saw that there was a fire on the other side of the island.

Abruptly, then, my pokenav was going off. I pulled it out and quickly opened it. I hardly had a chance to say anything before something was shouted at me.

"_We're handling Groudon and keeping it away from the island!_" I heard Violet shout at me over the line. "_Stop Maxie! He made it into the space center!_"

The line was then cut, either from the activity going around from their battle on the end of the island or from Violet just hanging up on me to get back to work. My eyes quickly drifted to the space center and I then saw that there was smoke coming from the building as well.

"Go!" Acey sped off with me on her back at the command and the others hurried behind, Darkness levitating Blaze and Blade while Silky pushed herself to keep up.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

My eyes widened as we came up to where the space center was. The place was swarming with Team Magma grunts and they seemed to be running to all angles of the building, trying to get inside. I could see all of my friends at different entrances that were trying to keep them from entering, but they were being overwhelmed.

"Darkness! Knock them all out!" My ghost pokemon nodded and lowered my two non-flying pokemon to the ground. The earth was still lightly shaking and my pokemon had to rush to balance themselves on their feet before they took off up the path that led to the center and took out any of the grunts that were getting in their way. Darkness also helped out by going up to all of them and crushing the skulls of grunts with other grunts and knocking them all out, taking them out by sheer numbers.

I could see Aria at the front entrance to the building; she was holding off a large group of grunts with her pokemon, preventing any of their attacks from getting inside and trying to harm anything that could rupture the fuel that this team was after.

"Aria!" The girl glanced up at the sky where I was and she let out a cry of relief. "Acey! Get rid of those grunts and their pokemon!"

"Gra!" Acey landed before all of them and allowed me to get off and Silky to land on my head before Acey roared and let out a thick breath of dragon rage at them. The grunts cried out and ran for the hills while I turned back and looked at Aria just to see her grab my shoulder.

"Don't worry about us! You took out enough of the guards! Head inside!" She shoved me past her and allowed space for my pokemon to pass. "Maxie and Courtney and two grunts passed us by earlier! They're inside and no one's in there to stop them!"

"Got it!" I put four fingers to my mouth and whistled as loudly as I could. My pokemon all paid attention to me and hurried into the building before Aria built up her defenses again as the next wave of grunts came at her. I glanced back at her in worry, but then I rushed down the hallway. I had no time to worry about her right now; I had to make my way into the building and stop my uncle, now.

**Third Person Point of View:**

Within the heart of the space center, on its second floor, the head of the space center staff stood with his employees around him. Maxie and his family had the members of the staff blocked in and separated from the room where the rocket fuel was located that was going to be used to blow up the volcano. Maxie evilly smiled at the door and reached for it, but a small hand grabbed his own.

"Daddy… haven't we hurt enough people?" Young Enya, his daughter, was shaking as she tried to voice her concern to her hypnotized father, about whose situation she knew nothing. "Should we really be doing this-"

"Shut up!" Her father threw back his hand and swatted her across the face. Her brother, Edan, dived for her and held her close to him and backed away from their father. "You stay the hell out of my way or I will do to you exactly what I plan to do to that girl who impersonates your cousin!"

"Mommy!" Enya whipped her head to look at the cold eyes of her mother who said not a word to them. "What happened to you two...?"

"You're not our parents!" Edan snapped and pulled his sister behind him. "You can't be! We should have gone with Jezebel all that time ago! She is the real one and you're not!"

"Why you little-" Maxie pulled back his fist and threw it at them and Edan flinched as it came flying at him.

A sudden smack could be heard and Edan opened his eyes. He gasped to see that his older cousin Jezebel had stepped before him and had taken the fist to her own face, and she was pushing against it. A growl was echoing from the base of her throat. Courtney and Maxie backed themselves away from her and Maxie pulled back his fist, but Jezebel was quicker and grabbed his wrist. She held him in place and prevented him from escaping her. Her hands had turned into that of claws that resembled her blaziken, three fingered, long, and brown, with fire spitting out of the edges of them at the wrist.

"Jez…" The girl glanced at them for only a moment before she turned back to her uncle and aunt.

"Go, get out of here and lose the uniforms. We'll take you to my father's, where you'll stay with Nixie and Caspian." She glared at the man she held in her grip. "I need to deal with them first. No one hits my cousins."

"But… didn't you hit us back at Mt. Chimney?" Enya questioned from behind her brother.

"_Go!_" Jezebel refused to give them a response and the two of them nodded and took off, throwing their uniforms in the process to show off civilian clothing under them. Jezebel turned her head back to the man's grip she had in her own and gripped it harder.

"Release me, you imposter!" Maxie snarled at the girl and his wife came to his aid. She threw out some pokeballs and revealed a set of mightyenas. Jezebel merely glanced at them before her two fighting type pokemon appeared. The two of them kicked back the pokemon and Courtney was forced to back away as her only pokemon left was one that could blow up the facility if the fuel caught fire. She didn't dare, because if she and her husband were gone, their ambitions would be crushed and their hard work would be reduced to ruin.

"Imposter?" Jezebel laughed at him and a dark glint appeared in her eyes. "Uncle, surely you know me better than that."

Jezebel suddenly tossed him and threw him off to the side. Maxie cried out and Courtney ran after him, cradling his head when he landed. She looked up at the supposed 'imposter' of her niece before her eyes widened and she watched the girl become engulfed in flames. Jezebel screeched out before her hair turned white like that of her blaziken and he eyes turned golden yellow while her teeth suddenly changed form to look like a beak hidden under the skin of her lips. Her legs became encased in fire and she screeched again before the flames burned heavily on her legs and wrists.

It was then that Courtney suddenly blinked at the girl and realization seemed to hit her. She gasped and released her husband long enough to reach for her niece, somehow now free of the control she was placed under eight years ago. "Jezebel! Oh my Latias! Are you all right?"

But the girl never answered her; she was too far into rage and her changeling form. Something glittered from around her neck and it was then that the object caught the attention of both of the relatives of Jezebel. Maxie looked intently at it- the locket of rose gold that Norman had made for his daughter at Christmas. It was then that Maxie seemed to break free of his spell as well, just as his niece was starting to approach them.

"Jezebel! Stop! I remember!" Maxie held out his hand. "I'm sorry!"

Jezebel only screeched at him and the girl leapt forward. The couple jumped to their feet and took off down the hallways of the spaces center while the girl landed where they once were and slashed at the wall. The wall broke into many pieces, but Maxie and Courtney didn't hang around to see that damage. They continued to run down the hallways and down the stairs just as they heard a crash to the side. Maxie took a glance with his wife and saw that their niece had broken through the second story windows and hissed at them as they continued to run.

"Jezebel, please! We remember now!" Courtney cried out as the girl dived over their heads, aiming to harm them further, but missed by an inch as Courtney allowed herself to slide down the steps before spinning and landing on the ground. Her husband rushed after her and was quick to pick her up into his arms before running out of the building. Maxie managed to pass by all of Jezebel's friends who were defending the location as well as his grunts and children.

"Get down!" Maxie's voice bellowed out as Jezebel threw her body out of the building and roared. The grunts wasted no time in running away with their pokemon while the friends and the cousins were to remain. Jezebel landed on the ground outside of the building before her eyes landed on where Maxie and his wife were. She cried out before leaping at him and he threw his wife to the side. The two bodies crashed together and Jezebel held her uncle to the ground under her iron changeling grip. Maxie screamed out from the burning of his skin as she held down his wrists in her hands. Jezebel's fury was only increased by the screams!

"That's enough!" Jezebel was suddenly slammed by another body who held her down. Jezebel screeched right back and kicked the body off of her. The body was Violet's. She hung in the air with her wings while she waited to see what Jezebel would do next. The IPHP League had kept Groudon away from the island, but the large beast disappeared under the water and earth when it'd been thrown there. The IPHP League came back only to find the area in chaos as Jezebel had fully transformed, without them around, and was attacking her uncle.

"Jezebel! Stop!" Gwyn suddenly appeared out of the woods with her burning hair and slammed her body into Jezebel's and threw the girl back, sending her in the direction of Violet. The woman flexed her wings before she dived down and slammed the body of Jezebel into the ground. She still fought against her, but with the help of Gwyn, the two champions were able to hold her down.

"Damn… the girl's really pissed!" Violet was shoving down with all her strength, but because of how strong Jezebel was and how strong her pokemon were and all their wills, Violet had a lot of trouble keeping the girl down.

"Come on Jez! Calm down! No one's being hurt! It's okay!" Gwyn's words didn't even reach the younger girl's ears. Jez roared out and continued to fight back. The girl even managed to move, even microscopically, toward Maxie and Courtney.

"Hang on!" The males rushed over then and Alex was the first to reach them with the changeling form of his Blastoise and he pushed down on her head to keep her from blowing out fire while the other males moved to the lower half of her to prevent her from behind able to move. With all of them in forms of water or ground types, anything that couldn't be affected too heavily by fire, they held down the raging, newly discovered changeling.

"Damn is she strong!" Alex held down on her with all of his might, but the girl just wasn't giving way to the group of changelings that were holding her down. "How much power does she have?"

"One thing's for sure- once she gets control, she's gonna be one of the most powerful changelings we've ever had." Violet hissed as the girl was trying to rip her arm free. "Jezebel, calm down! Your uncle and aunt are free from the hypno's spell! Mew damn it… wake up!"

But none of their cries would stop the raging girl. She was too far into her madness. She roared behind the pressure Alex had on her head and jaw to keep it from opening and hurting anyone with flames.

"Alright, this isn't working." Violet hissed as the girl made a lunge under them all and got them to move. "Option 'b' then, Alex, her neck."

The male nodded and moved back his hands enough that he freed the space that was Jezebel's neck for his girlfriend to reach. She pulled back her hand and whipped it downward at the ideal spot.

"Jezebel!" Aria couldn't help but let out a scream as the IPHP League used so much force on her and the scream slipped out before she could stop it.

The scream was enough to get the girl moving and before the other changelings knew it, they were thrown off of Jezebel's body and she leapt into the air. Her body changed to that of her flygon, wings shot out of her back as well as bright blue hair appeared on her head with golden goggles forming over her eyes. A striped tail of green and blue appeared, along with claws before she dived back down at the IPHP League. She centered in on Gwyn and used the force of her dive to shove her back into the tree line. She then latched onto the ground with her claws before crying out and then digging and disappearing into the ground.

"Look out! She could go after anyone! Get the locals out of here!" Gwyn nodded and was quick to grab her boyfriend and use him and Aaron to help her lead the locals that worked at the space center out of the area. Maxie and Courtney also took off in the direction of the locals and the three leading them, just barely moving out of the way in time for a hand to shoot up out of the ground and take a grab at Maxie.

"That's enough out of you!" Vince was quick to jump forward and changed to the form of his Venusaur and threw vines at the hand that pulled itself back down into the ground. The vine wrapped around something and Vince yanked it out of the ground. His vines were wrapped around a rock compared to what he was shooting for.

There was suddenly a gasp that echoed in the air as hands shot up out of the ground, phasing through it, and grabbing Violet's legs. She was yanked through the ground without a sound.

"Violet!" Alex shouted out as he whipped his head around, looking for his girlfriend.

Suddenly a thud happened below the ground. The ground cracked before dark energy slipped out of it. The ground suddenly erupted with dark energy and Violet appeared, in the changeling form of chalcedony, nearly thirty feet below with a ghost version of Jezebel before her. Her legs were gone, only a wispy tail was in its place, and the eyes on her head had vanished, leaving empty spaces and only a single red eye that could move back and forth. Glowing marks were all over her body as well as a face, glowing on her abdomen.

"Stop her!" Alex quickly switched over to the form of his dark and ground type and summoned a dark attack in his claws which he jumped and slashed at Jezebel. The girl simply looked at him in a bored manner and moved out of his way before diving back down at Violet. Violet released a shadow ball from her mouth which the girl guarded herself for and a mass of smoke engulfed her. As the smoke cleared, she was in another form again, this time her beautifly. Glittering, colorful wings extended out of her back while sparkling purple hair was on her head and bright blue eyes glared down at them. She reminded Violet at that moment of a fairy. The girl then flapped her wings. A powerful gust of silver wind flashed from them toward Violet. Violet's form changed to that of her scizor with large pinchers on her and thick red hair that she used as an armor. Her bright golden eyes glared back at the out of control girl.

Jezebel hissed out before she dropped to the ground and her form changed once more, this time taking on the form of her gallade. White blades appeared on her arms while dark green hair appeared and dark red eyes glared as she charged at Violet.

"Stop!" Violet's eyes went wide as Mattie was the one to jump before Jezebel. Shockingly a changeling form had taken over him as well. His gardevoir's light green hair was the same shade as his own, but his wide eyes turned to red, matching the shade of Jezebel's eyes. He held out his hands, putting forth a shield. Jezebel slammed into it and cried out. Mattie had to fight against her incredible strength. His shield cracked under her power and he closed his eyes, trying to focus harder. "You need to stop! You're going to kill someone!"

The shield shattered and suddenly Jezebel fell through, but she didn't continue her chase. She fell to the ground, finally drained of all her energy after changing to all of the forms of her pokemon within the time frame of a few minutes. Mattie's eyes also rolled into the back of his head before he landed on top of her, knocked out as well.

Violet stared at their two bodies for a moment before she sighed and relaxed and released her changeling form. She kneeled down next to them and pulled them up to her body to carry them. `

"My Mew… you are going to be powerful… Rose and Razi better watch themselves with you now." Alex was quick to come over to where his girlfriend was and took the young boy into his own arms before they took them off toward the town to give them some treatment.

**Rosalie's Point of View:**

I slammed my fist into the dummy that was before me while my two most trusted pokemon stood at my side. Gengar was resting for the upcoming battle while Hypno was glancing up and down at my body in the uniform that I was in for Team Aqua. He loved to see all the skin that was showing and had a hard time keeping himself off of me, but he would wait until I said it was okay, or he would be my pokemon no longer.

It was such a benefit for sending him on his little "training run" back over seven years ago, just after this event when we ruined the lives of _so_ many people. I filed a report of harassment on my hypno and allowed him to be taken away. He escaped from the center he was held at and made it to Isle Three where he ran into Violet four years ago. Once he was transferred to Hoenn, I freed him and allowed him back onto my team to continue making the lives of others miserable and to have an advantage over the mind. Hypno would do anything I asked… for a price… one reason why I was glad (the only reason) that my husband was locked away and I was not. For if he was here… Hypno, one of my most valuable assets to controlling the world, would be gone.

I dropped my fists and allowed myself to lie out on the rocky ground below me in the caves. I'd found the underground cavern that the sleeping Kyogre was in and Archie was quick to create a base. In only a few short days, he would awaken the ancient beast of the sea and the rest of my plan could fall into place.

I heard a splash of water off to the side and I sat up to look down the rocky hallway. My brother stepped out of the shadows from where he slipped into this room through swimming in the underground water pathways. I stood up and helped him over to me before sitting him down to see the light hit his face and see the bandages.

My blood boiled at that. "What happened to you?"

"That damn girl… Jezebel… I went to kill her and she started a changeling change quick enough to stun me by scarring my face. Then Gwyn Jalen came to her rescue before I could kill her…" He sighed and looked away from me. "I'm sorry sis…"

"It's all in the past now; now we will kill them during the heat of the battle." I looked out to the water and grinned at it. "Archie will awaken Kyogre in only a short amount of time- only a couple days. There will be no time for Violet and her friends to stop us before we take back those orbs and control Groudon and Kyogre both!"

"Right!"

Hypno then took it upon himself to snuggle up into my chest. He felt soft against my skin, but that didn't mean I welcomed his touch at the moment. I glared at him and he pulled back from me, feeling the intense wave of anger radiating off of me.

"It won't be long now; rest, my little brother. I'll take care of you before we get ready for the final battle with the legendary beast and the IPHP League."

My younger brother nodded and I pulled off the red bandages that covered the side of his face. I watched as the infected skin glared back at me and I quickly pulled out a first aid kit to take care of him.

We needed to be in top shape for that final battle, and I wasn't about to let an infected face stop me from using my brother and all his strength.

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh shit… wow, did Jez lose control during this chapter! And five changeling forms? It's unheard of! I don't think we'll have another beginning changeling like this is the future, but we'll see what happens. And what about Rose? Oh man, things are going nuts!**

**So like always my wonderful readers, please review and let me know what you think of this chapter! Especially of Jezebel! And questions too please!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	23. Archie's Accident

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 23: Archie's Accident_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I felt that my body was stiff as I came to. I stretched my arms over my head and felt multiple joints cracking in my body before I sighed in relief. I opened my eyes and I glanced around to see I was in a hospital room and dressed in a white hospital-issued gown. I blinked at it before I stuck my tongue out at it and got up out of my bed and looked around for anything that was mine. I found my clothes and my bag as well as my two large cases containing my guitar and my glass flutes. I stripped myself of the gown and let it fall to the floor before I put on my own clothes and felt so much more comfortable in them than that fucking gown. I huffed at it before I attached my bag over one shoulder and put the flute cases over my other shoulder and carried the guitar case, at least until I was out of a building where they could get caught on something.

I slipped out of the hospital room I was in and glanced around to see that the entire place seemed a bit vacant at the moment. A few nurses seemed to be off at the side, talking with some people, but other than that, it was quiet. I glanced off to the side and noticed that it was very early in the morning, or very late at night from the way the sun was. I could see that it was still pretty dark outside and the sun was either setting or rising, and it was hard to tell which.

"Miss Emery-Twain!" I turned my head and watched as a doctor hurried his way over to me. He took a moment to suck in a breath or two before he nodded to me. "It's good to see you up, but please don't leave yet."

"Why?"

"You should be resting after all the stress your body went through yesterday. You went through five different changeling forms and it took seven changelings to stop you from hurting anyone." He pulled out his chart and started looking over the information. "Your friend who managed to stop you finally is also here in the hospital, very worn out, but he's been talking to your other friends. Why don't you head back to your room-"

"My friend?" I cut him off and looked around to all the rooms for a sign of any one of the guys. "Which one and where?"

"It was Matthew Ashling; he's just down the hall, but-" I didn't listen to whatever he had to say before I took off and began my search for Mattie's room.

I managed to find it only a moment afterward with the doctor chasing after me. Mattie was in the room by himself, flipping through the channels and had on the late night news, showing it was almost eight at night on the clock next to him. He was in his own clothes and seemed to be snuggling with his pokemon team, all of them trying to keep him warm.

It was Luna by his head that saw me first; she meowed loudly and jumped off the bed to climb over my shoulders and rub the side of her head against my face. I laughed at her and her antics and it caught the attention of the others in the room.

"It's nice to see you, too, Luna." I petted her fur and she curled into my touch before she jumped down and hurried back over to the bed where I could see then that Mattie was getting up.

"J-jezebel…" Mattie used the bed to help himself make his way over to me, but a few steps away from the bed he tripped over his feet and I had to dive forward for him. He landed in my arms with his face on my shoulder and I held him up with my body. I shrugged off my cases and bags off my shoulders to make room for him when he slammed into me. I felt him gather his composure and wrap his arms around my shoulder before curling up into me. "You h-had me s-so worried…"

"I…" I pulled back a bit so I could look into his eyes, those sapphire eyes locked into mine and I was hooked once again and unable to look away. I was trapped.

"Y-you scared everyone w-when you became a-a changeling… you kept a-attacking your u-uncle and a-aunt…" I couldn't move or speak as he had me captured in his gaze. "All the o-others c-couldn't stop y-you… and I was so worried f-for you… I-I stepped i-in… a-and…" He looked away then and I felt like I could breath and I looked away and gasped. He turned back to me, but I couldn't look at him. "A-and I… I stopped you… b-but we both blacked out…"

"I attacked him?" I blinked at him and turned my head. "I knew I was mad… but I attacked them? How… how badly?"

"P-pretty badly…" his eyes darkened when he thought back to it. "Y-you chased them a-all through t-the building b-before you chased them o-outside… Y-you practically tossed them t-through a wall or two…"

"Are they all right?"

"They're fine, Jez. Just a few scratches at best. They made it out before you could do any damage." I turned my head up to see Violet and Gwyn walking into the room with my pokemon following behind them. They rushed around the two champions and Silky was the first to land on my head before the others all knocked me over. Mattie came with me and we both cried out from my team's weight. Blaze and Blade were the only two who didn't land on us, but jumped back when the others fell. Acey and Darkness however were on top of us and hugging the life out of me while Silky hugged her body to the top of my head and her wings were fluttering and getting sparkling dust all over the place.

"Hey! You guys! Let me up!" My team pulled back, and Darkness held out his hands to pull the two of us up from where they knocked us over. I hugged all of them close to me, each and every one of them. "I'm so glad to see you guys… sorry to make you worry…"

"I'm still glad to see you awake, regardless; Jez, we were worried you'd be out for a week." Violet caught my attention as I petted Acey's head, which was shoved in my chest. "I'm actually shocked you're not tired or anything like that. Normally after people go through their first changeling form, they fall unconscious."

I turned back to Violet. "What do you mean? I feel fine."

"It must be different with you, then. You look as if you've been a changeling for months, or even years!" Gwyn then stepped in and blinked at me with wide eyes. "I was knocked out after I first turned into Cynder. I was out for a few days and then Aaron forced me to stay another couple of weeks before I'd had it. It's just a bit strange that there's no repercussion from the change you had."

"Some people don't feel it, Gwyn; I never did." Violet shrugged at her sister champion. "I may have been a bit dizzy after it, but I was never knocked out. But nevertheless," she turned back to me, "Are you sure you feel fine?"

"Yeah, as if I'd been resting for _way_ too long." I shyly grinned at her before my mouth turned downward. "How's my family hanging in there?"

"They're all in different places for the time being. Your father is looking after your four cousins and will be until your family goes to court. We have evidence from all of us and yourself to prove that they were innocent of all the charges due to hypnotism, and since it was due to Rose, they'll drop all charges on them and pass them onto her, adding to the stack she already has. I've been talking with the judge, who's scheduled to take care of the trial for all your family in a couple months' time, once all of this is over, unless something changes." Violet sighed and rubbed her temple before she looked back up at me. "Your uncle and aunt are within Sootopolis right now, the trial will take place there, and they are under protective custody until all of this blows over."

"I'm glad to hear that; thanks, Violet…"

"But in the meantime, we've got some issues to deal with." Violet brushed past us to the board where a map had been hung up. I sat Mattie down and stood behind him. "I've already explained this to the others, so you two are the last two to hear it. Gwyn and Tristan were able to find the cavern where Archie has located his lair. We're going to be heading just past Sootopolis City to reach it." Violet then brought up another chart that was of moon phases. "Archie apparently is waiting for the point where the moon is at its strongest, so tomorrow night is most likely where he plants to awaken Kyogre. We have to stop him before then. We'll be heading out tomorrow morning to deal with him, because we're not sure how far down beneath the ocean Kyogre is, or if the beast has been moved."

"So we all should be going to bed?" I didn't really want to go; I'd just gotten up. I'd rather just stay up and train.

Violet sighed. "If you really have to, Jez, go train. It'll give you about a couple hours before we plan to head out so you have time to get ready for tomorrow."

I grinned at her. "Thanks Vi; I'm heading out now!"

"J-Jez! Wait!" I turned to see Mattie latch onto my arm. "I-I'm coming too!"

"Oh no, you're not!" I dragged the boy back to his bed and pushed him down. "You need your rest if you even want to _think_ about being there tomorrow."

"B-but I just got up a little while ago!" He pushed against my hands on his shoulders, which held him down. "I'm not tired!"

"Yeah, says the boy who fell over on top of me when he first got up and couldn't stand on his own." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Mattie, you're staying here."

"No!" He barked back at me and I was thrown for a loop. Mattie never snapped at me; to hear him actually do that was… shockingly cool, but it was annoying as well, since it was me he was fighting against. I was a bit taken aback by it.

"Stop arguing with me, Mattie!" I glared down at him. "You're staying!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"_No_, I'm not!"

"_Yes_, you are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

**Aria's Point of View:**

I have to say it was really strange to come back to the hospital to hear shouting, and not just shouting, but _Jezebel and Mattie_ fighting. I had no idea what they were fighting over, but this was a rare sight indeed.

"Well, I guess I know where we're not going into for a good long while…" Casey sighed and took my hand in his before he pulled me back in the other direction. "Why don't we go back to our room? We can talk with them in the morning when they calm down."

I looked over at him. "But what if they need us to stop the fight?"

"Violet and Gwyn are in there; I think they'll be all right." He continued to pull me along and I didn't fight him. "Besides, we can use this time to train or rest and just hang out; we haven't done that for a while."

"Actually, that sounds fun. Wanna head out to the beach?" I grinned up at them while the voices of our friends died out. "Our pokemon can do whatever they want and we can hang out for a bit before we do a bit of training and then go to bed."

He smiled back. "Sounds good, Aria. Let's go!" 

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"All right, you two. Enough!" Violet's demanding voice overpowered the two of ours and we were shot down. She glared at both of us before she snorted angrily. "Jez, leave Mattie alone; the boy is fine. He tends to get a bit off balance when he's surprised, nervous or overwhelmed with emotions. It's just how his body reacts to how he feels. And Mattie," she whipped her head around to him. "You need to be considerate of your friend's feelings, at least a little bit. I realize that it's hard with the way your lifestyle was with your family, but Jez isn't here to stop what you're doing. She only said to rest the night. It's up to you what you want to do tonight, but since both of you have so much energy, I would suggest for you two to go train and let off some energy and then head back to bed for a nap. We'll be heading out around five to make sure we're ahead of them." Violet then turned on her heels and left Mattie's room.

Things were quiet for a moment before I glanced over to give Mattie a look. His eyes met mine and his eyes went wide before he went red and dropped his eyes from mine. _I guess I had embarrassed him; I really need to stop doing that to him. He deserved better._ I shook my head and sighed before I made my way over to his bed and sat down.

"Sorry, Mattie." I flopped down the top half of my body on his bed and groaned. "I guess I'm just too used to you going along with what I say that I was shocked and upset when you didn't."

"I-I'm not that fragile, Jezebel… I can h-handle myself on my own…" He walked over next to me and sat beside me before lying down. He sighed and turned his head to look at me. "Y-you don't have to be worried about me anymore."

"Mattie, I always worry." I turned to glance into his eyes, subjecting myself to being locked in them. "I can't stop feeling the way I do because you say so, or because you can defend yourself. I know you can, but we always worry for you. I always have… but I knew you needed to be free."

"Jezebel…" he was quick to hug me and curl into my body. I turned on my side to hug him back just as easily. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry too." I lifted my head and he did too before I grinned at him. "Now why don't we go and get some training done! I wanna get out some serious energy! We could try being changelings again!"

"Yeah! L-let's go!" I jumped off the bed and pulled the boy with me. I left my two large cases and my bag behind in his room while I pulled him by the hand. He never complained once and we raced past the doctors and nurses as they chased after us and our pokemon.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I was startled awake the next morning to someone shoving me on either side. I was startled to see that Mattie was curled with me in the bed, and I was against his chest. It had been an eventful night with the two of us staying up until nearly three with training and having fun before we needed a nap before our mission. I blushed at being against Mattie's chest and curled back into it before I felt something shove my side again.

I rolled over to look over my shoulder and I saw Violet standing there with Alex. The two of them were watching us and I slowly sat up to look at them.

"Time to get up, Jez. We set out in half an hour. Get Mattie up and let's get going."

"Got it." The other two that were in the room left while I planned how to wake up Mattie. I yawned and lay back down to stretch and my movement stirred Mattie from his nap as well.

"Jezebel…?" Mattie yawned and stretched himself before he looked at me tiredly. "Is it time to go?"

"Yeah. Let's get up Mattie; we got thirty." He groaned, but obeyed me and we both got up from our beds and I threw my cases and bag over my shoulders before I waited on Mattie and we headed downstairs to get ready with the others.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later we found that we were on our way to the underground cavern where my uncle and aunt would be with Kyogre. The sun had yet to rise, but we had less than twenty-four hours to find and stop my uncle before he started a full-on war between the ancient beasts.

We made it past Sootopolis just a few minutes prior to our landing spot above where the apparent cave was. There was no land in sight; instead, there were rocks that had shot up out of the water as well as deep sea water below us. With the help of Casey's swampert, we all jumped in the water and wrapped our arms around his body before he took us down under the surface. We had small air breathers on that were attached to our faces and were stripped down to that of bathing suits for all of us, shorts for Mattie and Casey and strapped tops and shorts for me and Aria.

Swampert carried us through the water and pulled us along so we didn't have to fight the strong currents under the surface. I could see that there were many rocky caverns and formations under the water that went on for miles, but Swampert was heading for the one directly below our ship. It was nearly fifty feet below, and while we could handle the air (due to us having breathing masks) the pressure was another thing entirely. I could feel it crushing down on my body and it stung when we got down pretty far. It forced my grip on the pokemon who was carrying us to really tighten to keep myself from letting go. I could feel the pressure sending tingling feelings throughout my body, especially in my small hands and feet.

Swampert then took the turn into the cave and the entire setting changed. It looked like we were inside an underwater cave, but most of the space was taken up by the stolen submarine. All its lights were turned off, and it was sitting on the floor of the underground cave, but light was just over our heads. I released my grip on Swampert and kicked my way up to the surface of the water, lightly peeking up and out of it to see what was around. A large entry was there, but no grunts were posted here. I waved my hand under the water to the others and I watched them come towards me.

Three other heads popped up out of the water with Casey's swampert waiting underneath the surface. I turned back and nodded to the others and Casey motioned for his pokemon to come up to the surface. We all hurried over to the edge of the water and climbed out before we watched as the others that had followed us came to the surface as well. Violet led the others right behind us and she climbed out with them as well. All of us split up into our own groups in the entry cavern and Violet glanced at all of us. We all pulled off our masks and hooked them to our belts.

"All right, everyone, we all know what to do here." She turned back to Alex and Vince. "We'll head to one section and start a distraction; same with the second group." She glanced at Gwyn, Tristan, Aaron and Levy. "And the four of you," she looked back at us, "You all will be sneaking around for the most part to find Archie; we can't afford to waste too much time trying to find him. We shut him down as fast as possible. One legendary beast is hard enough on our own to take down; we don't need two who are going to be hell-bent on trying to kill each other or everything in their path to do so."

"Got it, Vi." I nodded to the woman and looked back at our group. "From the information Gwyn brought back, Kyogre should be in the deepest cavern. We need to make our way downwards, so let's go, people."

My group of friends nodded and we took off down the middle tunnel-way in the wall.

**Violet's Point of View:**

"Do you think they're going to be okay, Violet?" Gwyn questioned me when the group of four was out of range. My IPHP League members were left behind with me for a moment to give them a last bit of information.

I glanced over at my sister champion. "Aren't you the one who wanted me to keep her on?"

"Yes… well… I did, but…"

I snorted a laugh and patted her head. "Relax, Gwyn, I was just teasing you. I know what you meant. But as for Jez… I think she'll be fine. I don't think she'll go crazy like she did with her last transformation either. The first is always the worst where your emotions take control and drive you mad; we've all had to deal with that. You should know firsthand when you almost destroyed Goldenrod City."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, I was just as bad when I battled Giovanni, don't get me wrong. I nearly ripped Giovanni's head off when I first changed." I moved my hand to her shoulder. "I'm just saying that we've all done our part to make a bit of a mess of things when we first change and we help those along after us who need it." I pulled my arm back. "Now we'd best get to work; we need to draw attention away from where Jez and the others are going, so we need to make some noise, and some holes." I looked around to everyone. "Who wants to go first?"

"Oh! I will!" My brother was quick to leap out before us and grin. He took on the changeling form of his electivire and his hair turned neon yellow with a black zig-zag stripe in it and dark red eyes.

"Hang on! I wanna join in!" Aaron leapt forward as well and took on the changeling form of his raikou. He gained claws and sharp teeth while the hair under his hat took on a yellow color with black zig-zag stripes in his and from the base of the back of his neck, a purple cloud-like cape grew. Both of them sparked electricity all over their bodies before taking off and shocking the entire place and then taking off down each of the different hallways.

"I guess that answers my question…" I sighed. I turned back to the others. "Split up, people; we'll cover more ground and make sure those two idiots don't hurt themselves."

**Silky's Point of View:**

I was so glad when I was the only one allowed out of my pokeball during this operation! I'd been so long since I'd had a serious battle, not since I was just freshly out of my cocoon! It made me, oh, so mad! But I'd do anything for Jezebel… she was such a sweetie, and didn't deserve to be going through all this hell. My brothers and sister totally agree with me on that!

_I can't wait until I see some bad guys! I wanna slam them with a silver wind!_ My thoughts wandered out to my psychic brother who was able to connect all our minds to talk while Jezebel and the others traveled through these unforgiving tunnels that seemed to endlessly go on.

_Hey, calm down there, Silk._ Blaze was the first to respond to my unspoken outcry. _Pay attention to the area around you in case any of those grunts sneak up on the others. We're still inside our pokeballs, so we can't do too much out there. _

_Don't worry; it'll be fine!_ I grinned. _I would feel them moving around and breathing in these corridors before they got anywhere near Jezebel!_

_True, but you seem to be a little more hyper then normal; it makes us concerned for our sister's safety with only one of us being out._ Blade added onto Blaze's worries and I frowned at that.

_Oh, you two should stop worrying!_ Acey was quick to come to my rescue. _Silky and Jez will be fine! I mean, Jez can turn into all of us now, and Silky is out __**and**__ she has three of her friends with her. _

_I have to agree…_ Darkness came to my side as well. _We all promised Jezebel that we would be there for her, and we are; we are in our pokeballs on hand if she needs us. We have nothing to fear; these idiots will not attack her. _

_I guess not… _Blade still didn't sound too sure. _It feels odd to be me to be inside this pokeball and not out there at her side, as we all have been._

_I think you mean how __**Blaze and you**__ are always at her side. You two are always acting like her bodyguards; you know she can defend herself._ I felt a light growling being held back in the base of my throat.

_Easy there, Silk!_ Blaze was quick to stop me before we became much louder about our dispute to our human sister and her friends. _Yeah… I guess Blade and I protect her a lot, but it's just because we don't want her to cry again…_ He paused and I could only see his depressed look on his face from the pain in his voice. _Don't you remember what happened all that time ago? When she broke down in tears when she saw her uncle for the first time when he was trying to steal those special items she was transporting? Or that time on the volcano after the battle? I don't want to have to see her like that again, and that's why Blade and I stay so close, so it doesn't happen again._

_Regardless, it will happen again._ Darkness' tone was hardly helping as he replied calmly to Blade and Blaze. _Events such as this happen in all our lives, such as the pain we all felt when Jezebel was taken away from us, where we were left alone… We know the pain of loneliness she felt when she was taken, and we were left behind. Now she has gathered the pieces of not only us, but herself as well, and is trying to put together her life, which was never whole to begin with._

_Never whole to begin with… Really?_ A heavy hesitation was in Acey's voice. _I mean, I know she had a really rough upbringing, but never being whole?_

_See it from her perspective,_ Darkness sighed. _Jezebel was always moved to and fro, never having a place to truly call her own, a father who was forced to never be there, a mother who tried to keep her attached to her side all the time, no friends, hardly ever seeing the rest of her family… all of which can take their toll on a person. How could she be whole where all the pieces of what she loved and cared for where scattered all around the region? And from what I have seen of her innermost thoughts, there is still one last member of our family we have yet to meet, a dragon-like beast that Jezebel had named Empyrean. _

_Yes, I believe I have seen that as well…_ Blade groaned. _There is still so much to tie together for our human sister… I feel like the list never ends…_

_But we'll keep working at it._ I nodded as I looked ahead from where I was on my human sister's head, totally unaware of the conversation we were all having. _We'll do it because she came back for us… because we love her…_

_Right._ I heard the five simultaneous voices of my brothers and sister and I knew I was right. We'd do anything for this girl that we've all grown so attached to, just like she would for us.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

We'd been walking for quite a while. My group and I had out only small pokemon we brought with us, in order to avoid being detected. I had Silky on the back of my head while I was walking down the dimly lit tunnels. Luna was laid out on the back of Mattie's neck while Nincada walked at the base of Casey's feet. The only small pokemon that Aria had was her bagon, which she held up in her arms to keep him from munching on rocks.

We walked down the dark tunnels that hid us all well from any of the grunts that we saw camped out in some of the caverns. Most of them were just resting or there just weren't any at all. It's highly possible that my uncle sent them away once he got what he wanted, which was Kyogre. All he had to do was wake up the beast. It does make sense. But a few members lagged behind and we managed to sneak around them (although I highly doubt that my uncle would have let all his grunts go, since he needs to keep us away if we're found in here).

The cave shook every now and then from the IPHP League's messing around in the caverns. Violet and Gwyn had taken their teams in to make a distraction so that my group and I could make it to where Archie and Shelly were. We had to stop them before it got too late.

But other issues had come into play. It took us almost a couple hours just to make it here by boat (days were still a bit short since it was still spring), then, when we finally got here, we all needed to get safely inside and undiscovered by anyone here. Even with the IPHP League stalling for us, it's taken us just a while to get through this place due to us avoiding fighting until we would make it to Archie and Shelly. It took us hours to get through the caverns. There were some cases where we had grunts blocking our way and we couldn't get through until they switched shifts, _two hours_ later… We'd tried to get by them by making a noise off to the side, but they had it worked out where they would only send off one guard to check it out. It sucked. So until they shifted, we couldn't move.

The worst part was that this happened a _couple_ times…

Eventually we got so far in that the grunts we saw were so scarce in the underground tunnels. It was much easier to walk through when we didn't have to worry about treading out in front of a grunt that could have caused a commotion and stalled us, although it may have been easier than waiting for them to change shifts…

Regardless, it was annoyingly just past seven at night when we made it to the deeper caverns and saw the evidence of my uncle and my aunt. A small chamber-like room had been made up to situate two people or so and a few things were lying around that looked like some easy clothing for the two of them to sleep in. There were also some packages of food off to the side. It was annoying to still think how they were doing this, but what cooled me down was that it was all Rose's fault, not them. They were innocent; they didn't want to do these things, and never would, but that hypnosis made it so that they did.

Water was rolling all over the rocks now; bits of seawater flowed into the cave from above. The pressure against this underground cavern was intense, but somehow those rocks were holding, but I doubt they would once Kyogre was set loose from its slumber on a rampage.

My friends and I walked through the room to the opening behind it and looked at the area behind it. Water filled this area from inside the cavern, like an underground lake. In the center of it was a large statue that resembled a sea creature with wing-like arms and a smooth body, very massive, like the size of Groudon. It had markings all over its body, but none of them were defined by color, for it was a grey statue. It sat in the middle of the water while my aunt and uncle stood before it on land with the red orb in hand.

"Shit!" I hissed under my breath before I released all my pokemon that were in their pokeballs and pointed at the pair. "Blade! Get me that orb!"

"Gallade!" He nodded and his eyes glowed and the orb vanished from my uncle's hands.

"What?" He whipped his head back and looked at us. I could see him grit his teeth and he turned to stomp back over at us.

"GALL!" I whipped my head back around and looked at Blade. His eyes were squeezed shut and he held his head in pain. Guardian was quick to release herself and hurry to his side to help him as the red orb suddenly appeared in the middle of our two groups on the ground. It was too powerful of an object for Blade to carry over to us with his abilities. It must have been fighting against him with its ancient and powerful energy.

My uncle cried out and raced toward the item with a fury and speed I didn't know he had with my aunt racing right behind him. I rushed toward it as well, my friends chasing right after me. My uncle and I were the two that were the closest and I took a dive for the item, landing right over it before I pulled my body into a ball and rolled away from him with it.

"Jez, look out!" I cried out when I felt the floor fall from below me and I felt my body fall into the water. I cried out, but no sound came from me under the pressure of the water. All the air left my lungs and I felt the cold rush of the sea water swirling around me from the force of my fall.

The eerie glow of the red orb was the only light I saw in the water. It was so bright… markings of blue appeared on the surface of it. _All I could feel was fear… anger… darkness… It… it was the orb… was it Kyogre? Were these the feelings of Kyogre through the orb? But… the red orb belonged to Groudon… weren't they switched? Does this mean I was feeling the feelings of Groudon? Could I feel both of them?_

I felt the red orb suck itself into my body. It felt like it shoved itself into my heart and suddenly sent visions to my head. Through the orb I could see things I could never dream of. I felt my entire body tingling before the world around me vanished and I felt myself sucked into my mind where the orb was sending me information.

I watched as the world around me became that of what seemed to be the past. I saw both legendary beasts fighting. Groudon was taking swings at Kyogre in the water and in return, the water legendary beast rounded around and swung its tail at Groudon's face. I watched the two act like nothing more than feral pokemon who hate humans and were fighting to the death.

I suddenly heard laughing and turned my head to the side and looked to see a human in primitive-looking clothing- a single cloth that hung around his waist. That same human was holding onto the two orbs, one of which I was listening to right now. I watched as the human held the orbs in his hands. The blue one was held before Groudon and the red before Kyogre. I watched them glow and the two pokemon reacted to the orbs. They raged and continued to attack each other. I then watched as he matched the orbs up with the correct legendary beast and watched as they instantly calmed and had a hazy look to their eyes. Their fighting ceased.

_No way… both orbs work on them! Opposite orbs make them go crazy, the correct one controls them… oh no… that's what's going on. Groudon is crazy since the blue orb was used to wake it; the same will happen to Kyogre… then Rose will take control of them by switching the orbs!_

"Jezebel!" The world around me was shattered and I blinked to the world of darkness around me before blurred dots of my vision came through and I could just barely see a man lingering over me before I felt the red orb separate itself my body and the man took it from me.

"Jezebel! Wake up! Stop him!" My eyes shot open and I sat up with a pounding head. I looked around to see my friends, and shockingly my aunt as well, with a worried look on her face. I looked over to where she was looking to and saw that my uncle had run back up to his spot on the top of the ledge and held up the glowing red orb.

"Now, Kyogre, awaken and help me realize my dream!" The orb glowed brighter and the markings on Kyogre turned red before the body suddenly emerged from the stone and became blue with a white underbelly and golden eyes. It howled in the water, the sound crashing against the walls, and suddenly large rocks were falling.

"Archie, stop!" Shelly shouted and tried to stand against the entire ruckus of the cave collapsing. "Please!"

All my uncle did was laugh as the legendary beast came to life and shook the entire cavern before sinking its body into the ocean and fading away. While the cavern continued to shake and fall to pieces, my uncle watched as the beast left and he was shocked.

"What the hell did you do?" The man whipped around to scream at me and came flocking over before he pulled back a fist to swing.

"Archie, no!" Shelly dove before me, but he and I were faster. He threw his fist forward just as I sped before my aunt and let the changeling form of Blaze take over, catching his fist and stopping his attack. His eyes widened when he saw me in this form and I pulled back my other hand and let him have a punch to the face. The force of it threw him back and he crashed into one of the walls, hitting his head, and was knocked out.

Everyone stopped to stare for only a moment before I raced into action and grabbed my uncle and changed my form to that of Acey. I also released her and recalled all my pokemon other than Darkness.

"We need to get out of here! Shelly! Get on Acey! Mattie! Call out Kaida and have her carry you three out or send someone over to ride on Acey too! Now!" Everyone broke after my shouting and my aunt jumped onto my pokemon's back before Aria jumped on Acey too and Acey took off. Mattie called out Kaida and jumped on her back with Casey and once both sets of pokemon were up in the air, I took off as well with my uncle.

And just in time as well. The walls were beginning to crash down around us and we raced toward the ceiling that was falling above us. Darkness kept the rocks away from us by punching them out of the way.

Suddenly the rocks cleared entirely above vanished and water started to flow in, but light did as well. I could see the surface just a few feet from the cavern we were in above us.

"Go!" I dived through first and Acey and Kaida raced after me to push the water to the surface. Our boat and a few others were waiting for us when we got there. I was shocked to see the sun quickly vanish and suddenly be taken over by a heavy downpour. It then suddenly did the same thing in reverse. The clouds vanished and the sun was over the area, shining intensely.

"Jezebel!" I turned around to see Violet down on one of the ships with all the grunts that she had beaten and gotten out of the cave. I flew down toward where she was and we all landed on the ship. "Kyogre just escaped to Sootopolis! It's racing off to confront Groudon! Let's go!"

I didn't argue with the woman, and once we all got on the boat, we sped off in the direction of the city.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was exactly like how I'd seen it in the past, but things had changed; the difference that I saw now was the constantly changing area. It was like the two attacks, rain dance and sunny day, were battling each other in order to take over. Sootopolis was a city that was surrounded by a stone wall with a hole only large enough in it for boats to get through or through a plane or the sky. In the dock area of this town, the two legendary beasts were fighting. Rocks burst out of the water and waves crashed around the two as they continued to fight.

"Shit!" Violet was already transformed and up into the air. "Everyone keep those two pokemon from attacking or hurting anyone! Jez!" She turned to me. "Find a cure to stop them!"

I nodded to her and became a changeling again of Acey. Mattie was quick to grab my arm and stop me for a moment.

"Jez! W-where are you going?"

"To find Empyrean; she can stop them." The boy released me and I jumped up into the air and sped off to the south.

_Empyrean… I need you now!_

**Third Person Point of View:**

Just as soon as Jezebel left to find her supposed last pokemon that could stop Kyogre and Groudon, a figure appeared in the air, still in her Team Aqua uniform and grinning madly. The blue orb was already in her hands and the red one in Archie's quickly vanished and up into her hand.

"Now it's time for the real games to start!" Both orbs glowed and Rose Agustino was revealed. Both legendary beasts calmed before looking possessed and scared. Her brother Razi hung behind her in the air in the form of his mismagius. "Kill them all! Destroy everything!"

All hell broke loose when the command was uttered.

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh shit… all of it has hit the fan now! Jez got possessed by one of the orbs, BOTH Kyogre and Groudon are awake now and fighting on Rose's command, AND Jez is racing off to find someone to stop the fighting, another pokemon of her's that she's met in the past. But who is it? Who is the final fighting pokmeon on her team and how will it stop Kyogre and Groudon? We'll find out next time!**

**Love you all and remember to send in Questions and Reviews! See you all next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	24. Search for Rayquaza

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 24: Search for Rayquaza_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It'd been years since I'd seen Empyrean, years since I'd seen her jade green body and amazing glowing marks of gold. I still remember when I first met her when I was… well, it was more like only a year ago; hardly much time has passed since I met her, the amazing pokemon that I'd met and the last member of my family that I'd yet to get.

I raced the ocean's crashing waves against the rocks that were hanging out of the water. The crashing weather of the deathly bright sun and the severe downpour flashed over each other in waves from Sootopolis as I raced to Empyrean's tower, the Sky Pillar. When I first traveled here last year, my mother was busy in an argument with my father. I couldn't stand listening to it and took off before I grabbed a boat from where I lived in Pacifidlog Town at the time, way out in the ocean. I saw the tower hidden behind a luster of clouds and rocks and managed to make my way to it…

**Jezebel's Memory (Still her Point of View):**

_Looking at the base of the tower, I could see storming clouds swirling around it. Lightning was bouncing from cloud to cloud and I grinned up at the adventure that was before me. I jumped out of my boat and raced up the small beach around it before I hurried into the tunnel that was below the tower. It was a small, hand built, old pathway that led up to the base of the tower. _

_Outside of the tunnel and in the base of the tower, I was quickly met with a light earthquake. It startled me and did sway me on my feet, but I quickly gathered my footing and rushed up the stairs to the next floor and continued up. I could hear a light roar in the distance and it caused the few pokemon that I actually saw to fade into the dark corners and hide. It made me grin even wider as I pumped my legs toward the ground to push myself faster toward the top. _

_As soon as I made my way to the top of the tower, storm clouds howled in anger and swirled around in blackness. The only form of light was a beast and a large orb of a jade green color off to the side. The orb was placed on a black pedestal and the beast behind it shared the same color, jade, with golden markings all over its long body. It seemed to resemble a seviper to me, but it was split up into sections, like its body was covered in an armor that looked like it was an attached chain. My eyes widened at the beast that looked at me with large yellow eyes. Red outlined its mouth and spikes came off the back of its head as well as the end of its tail. Two small arms came out of its side with claws. _

_It roared once at me, a bit irritated that I not only found this place, but that I was here. I stood still before the beast as it watched me before lowering its head and unwinding its tail from around its body to around me. I gasped as I watched it pull me closer until I was entirely enclosed at all angles. There was no way out of its grip, even if I had total movement of my body; its golden eyes had me captured. _

_"Wow… you're beautiful…" I couldn't help but let the words slip from my mouth and gape up at the creature above me. It stared at me with a stern face and growled lightly, but didn't move forward or roar again. "Who are you?"_

_The beast only looked at me with a strange look in its eye, its head leaning slightly to the side. I did the same and matched its movements as it did the same as it gently shifted its head to the other side. It shook its head and closed its eyes momentarily before it sighed and seemed to loosen up. _

_"Rhu…." The beast grumbled lightly as it gave me its reply. _

_"Rayquaza? That's your name? That's pretty bad ass." I grinned up at the beast. "Is that like your species name or your actual name? Whether it is or not, it's a really cool name either way."_

_"Rhu." The beast's eyes seemed to take a slight interest in me since my compliment to it. "Rhu… rhu?"_

_"What would I call you if that was your species name?" I repeated what the beast had questioned of me and blinked at it before I held a finger to my chin. "Well… if I had to think about it, you kinda give off a like 'god of the sky' feeling to me. And when I think of a name… Empyrean kind of gives me that same feeling; its meaning is 'belonging to or deriving from heaven'." I blinked up at the beast. "What do you think?"_

_"Rhu…" The beast seemed shocked at my suggestion of such a name. But it explained to me only moments after that this was the first time it'd communicated with a human since the last time it had to silence its beloved companions from killing all humans from under a single human's control. And for more clarification, 'it' was a 'she'._

_"What do you think of the name?" I asked once more once she was done explaining herself to me. The beast looked up at me and gave me a soft smile, one that I had to really fight for. _

_"Rhu!" She seemed quite excited by the name. I was glad to see it. After that she loosened up her tail and allowed me free passage over the top portion of the tower. _

_"Thanks, Empyrean! Hey! Would you mind telling me a bit more about this place?"_

_The large ancient pokemon then took her time and allowed me to crawl upon the back of her head to look beyond the storm clouds and watched the islands and region of Hoenn. She told me of the ancient stories of this place- how it was created by her two friends, Kyogre and Groudon, beings of water and earth. They created the land and the sea all over the world, but once humans saw their incredible power, selfishness and cruelty set in and they tried to take control of the two beasts. _

_Two orbs that belonged to them were used as a way of controlling the poor Pokemon, who wanted nothing more than peace and freedom. They were forced to, first of all, fight their beloved friend, then fight and destroy the human race. From this same tower, many millennia ago, Empyrean watched from above and saw the fighting. She allowed the first and only human friend she had to gather up her own orb and absorb it into his body in order to stop the fighting and prevent the evil human from getting his hands on her orb. The two of them fought together and brought the evil human's reign of terror to an end, but at a price. Humans feared the ancient pokemon of earth and water. Kyogre and Groudon then sealed themselves away to the deepest pits of earth and water in Hoenn to never be found again. _

_Since then, millennia had passed and Empyrean still watched over the area to make sure that Kyogre and Groudon could sleep peacefully and never again be treated like slaves. And since then, no human had dared approach her on the top of her tower. Her human friend died long ago, and no one knew of her, at least, not until I journeyed to the top. _

_"Not to be rude, Empyrean, but there's no way that humans didn't try to get up here in the past." I grinned up at her while she looked over at me from where her head rested beside my body. "I bet you scared them off so they wouldn't bother you, like you did with the small earthquake you did back before I made it up here and the roaring in my face. I bet it was all an act to keep humans away. It hurt too much when you lost your friend long ago, and you didn't want it to happen again. Right?"_

_Empyrean didn't reply at that, but the downcast look in her eyes said it all. She didn't look at me, only at the stone roof we sat on. _

_"I know that feeling. I've been taken away from my family too many times. I've seen that it really hurts when you're not together, and it feels just like losing them. I fear for all of them… that they may be captured by another trainer and I may not make it in time…" Empyrean looked over at me in shock. "I may not have lost anyone through death, but because of how often they're ripped out of my grasp, it might as well be." I paused for a moment to sigh before I felt a thought slip through my head and turned back to the beast. "Empyrean! Why don't you become a part of my family?" The beast looked at me strangely. "I know it must be hard for you to be here all the time, so why don't you come with me and my pokemon?" I looked away from her for a moment as I sighed. "We're not all together right now, but in a year, I become a pokemon trainer- someone who gathers a pokemon team and we become strong together to make it to the top. If we become the most powerful team, we can all stay together, for as long as we all live! In a year, I'll start gathering everyone, we'll be a family and be together, and nothing will stop us!" I held out my hand to the beast. "You'll never have to be alone again, Empyrean. I may die one day, but I'll live on in others, through my family, who will become yours too. No one will ever let you be alone again. What do you say?"_

_The beast was quiet as she mulled over her options. Her tail gently swayed on the top of the tower. Storm clouds were still spiraling around over our heads, but they were calmer now then when she was trying to scare me off. Now they're just to keep people from seeing what was at the top of this tower. Empyrean looked around her stone home and looked over the edge, to the cracks in the clouds were you could see beyond her little area to the different sections of Hoenn beyond here. Empyrean's eyes watered as she looked over every little space, lagging a bit when she looked over at the Meteor Falls to the northwest. I guessed that was where her friend died back when he was still alive. _

_Empyrean then took the next moment to look back at me and glance down into my eyes. Her pose looked powerful. She was judging me and seeing how I would react to her, but I didn't move at all. Empyrean finally took that moment to sigh and nod her head, allowing it to fall close to the ground next to me. _

_"Really?" I grinned at the beast. "Thanks Empyrean! You won't regret this! Hey, do you mind if I come back tomorrow? Or better yet, can I stay the night with you? I don't wanna go back to my Mom, and that's a long story in itself that you'll need to hear about."_

_The ancient pokemon nodded to me and allowed me to sit against the side of her body while she curled up around me and put the side of her face next to my head. I cuddled up into it and began to tell her the story of my mother and how it all began, or how much I'd known and thought of at the time…_

**Present (Still Jezebel's Point of View):**

It'd been an entire year of not seeing her. My mother dragged me away and took me to Fortree City for the second time in a few months before taking me to Littleroot Town just after my thirteenth birthday, but now was the time to reunite with Empyrean. I was hoping to do this on better terms, but I'd rather do it now then wait for the world to be destroyed.

I came in close to the tower before us. Storm clouds were racing over it, but this was not the storm that Empyrean had over her tower. The combination of heavy rainfall and unbearable sunlight was over her tower. I bet she figured out by now what was going on.

I ignored the old path that I used to run up on and flew up against the side. My body was only feet away from the walls, the air racing around me and the storm clouds swirling around and fighting against me from the crazy weather pattern that was taking over the area. I could already feel its strain here, and I'm sure Empyrean could feel it too.

I suddenly felt the wall vanish from my side and the top of the tower appeared before me, twenty or so feet down. In the center of the tower I could see the jade orb that belonged to Empyrean, my final pokemon family member for whom I had come. Right behind the black pedestal that held the orb was my pokemon. She was wrapped around herself and angrily looked over the storm clouds that spread outwards instead of around her tower like they always did. She watched the change in temperature as the sun heavily beat down and then the rain came. The temperature fluctuated in sets of twenty degrees every ten seconds or so. It was crazy…

"EMPYREAN!" The mighty beast I called sister and friend looked up at me as I dived down before her and released my changeling form for her to see how I looked. "It's me! Jezebel! We need your help!" I took a moment to breath after flying to so hard to get here. "Kyogre and Groudon were released from their slumbers and were forced to fight! They're going to be used against their wills to take over the region and the world! I need your help to stop them and the evil woman controlling them! Please!"

The beast lowered her head and quickly nodded to me. "Rhu…"

"Right. We don't want them trying to get ahold of you. Let me just grab a pokeball… huh?" A pokeball I didn't recognize came out of my pocket. It was purple in color with two magenta bumps on it and white in the bottom half of it. There was a note attached to it. I pulled it off and held it close to my face to read because of the bad lighting.

_Thought you may need this for your last friend, especially if she's the one helping us stop Kyogre and Groudon. Use it on her; it'll keep her safe. ~Violet_

It didn't surprise me that the female champion had known about this and had given me this pokeball, but what always frustrated me was, _how_ did she know? I shook it off and held the master ball up at Empyrean.

"Let's go, girl." The large dragon pokemon nodded and tapped the end of her head on the pokeball, allowing herself to be taken inside and suddenly the ball glowed as it shook. The ball took on an emerald green look to it and bright yellow glowing lines appeared on it, centering around the button to enlarge or open the device. I let Empyrean back out of her pokeball and I quickly walked up to the pedestal, looking at her jade orb.

"I'm gonna need this for the fight, aren't I? Also, we don't want it falling into enemy hands so you get controlled, right?" My dragon nodded and I picked up the orb and held it to my chest. I watched as it glowed a bright green color and then shrank in size before it pushed itself into my chest and I felt the sudden pounding of my heart increase beyond the fact that it was racing from just _flying_ here.

I fell to my knees and clutched my chest in pain as the orb absorbed itself into my body. My eyes widened as I felt the orb sending the power of Empyrean through my body, and my vision suddenly became more sharp as I watched the dust race on the wind and watched every detail of it, and water being thrown everywhere from the intense sun, the rain, and the wind. I felt my body shifting below me and watched as my hands turned into claws and my five fingers turned into three. I felt my feet leave me and turn into a single tail that resembled Empyrean's while my hair turned emerald green and glowing yellow markings appeared all over my body. I pulled out my pokedex and looked at myself, seeing the change fully taking effect on me with a final change of golden eyes with onyx pupils that sat in my sockets.

The pain vanished once my transformation was complete and I turned back to my dragon. "All right, Empyrean, let's head back; the others are waiting on us and trying to keep Kyogre, Groudon, and the woman controlling them, Rose, at bay."

My dragon nodded to me and we both took off into the air with our flying abilities. I led Empyrean back the way I came to where this battle was taking place, Sootopolis City, where Violet and the others were keeping them at bay, preventing them from hurting others, until we could arrive.

Violet's Point of View:

The battle we were facing was a hard one while Jezebel was gone, looking for her last pokemon that I knew could stop them (only from some small stories she's told me). At the current moment I had everyone split up into teams with their entire teams of pokemon out and ready to guard the homes of the locals and the locals themselves from the dangerous attacks of Kyogre and Groudon, which were stuck under Rose's control. Her plan that took so many years to manifest had finally come to the surface and was _working_. The damn bitch knew she had the upper hand with such powerful beasts. There was no way for us to quell them without the help of their third partner, Rayquaza, Jezebel's final pokemon friend that she's waiting to add to her team when the time was right (and when she got there).

Levy I'd asked to stay off to the side. She was still a minor, even to the world of pokemon trainers, and I can't ask anyone younger then the age of thirteen to do anything. It's also in my contract to try and keep her out of danger or have two members with her at all times (normally my older brother and Aaron) to protect her. Mr. Mewtwo and Bebi will keep her safe, but regardless of that, there are rules that I have to follow, and after my mistake at Mt. Pyre, I'm not making a mistake again. I did allow her to deflect some of the attacks if they made it past all of our lines of defense, but that's only if.

"All right! Boys and Aria! Keep everyone safe and keep the legendary beasts away from them and in the center of this cover! Gwyn! You and I got Rose!" All of them nodded and Gwyn was quick to change into her changeling form of Cynder and jumped atop Scarlet's head and was quick to follow after me and my team who went to quell Rose.

The very woman we spoke of was just above our heads, laughing at us all trying to make order out of the chaos that she began.

"You think you can stop me this time, Violet? I have the power of two legendary beasts on my side! And not to mention an old friend of yours!" At her side appeared her gengar and a hypno that laughed at me before it felt over Rose's body and blushed heavily when feeling at her… private areas. My eyes widened while my pokemon seethed and Gwyn and her team blinked in confusion at me.

"Violet, who is that? What's so special about that hypno?"

I growled at Rose, never taking my eyes off of that damn pokemon. "That's the hypno I told you about from when I was at the Sevii Islands, Gwyn! Don't underestimate him! He's as nuts as Rose is!"

Gwyn's eyes widened as she looked at him for only a moment and the two pokemon at Rose's side went into action. Gengar disappeared from her side and Rose took on the form of her hypno, causing her hair to turn a bright yellow color and her eyes black with a white furry tuff growing around her neck and down some of her body and over some other areas, before her eyes glowed and she used a psychic attack on my mind. I felt the blast at first and it hurt like hell before I released my form of Amethyst and took on the form of Chalcedony and fired one right back at her. Our attacks were invisible to the naked eye, but to us, they were evenly matched and I felt Sapphire fly below me and carry me back up so I wasn't falling as I faced off against Rose.

"We'll get Gengar and Hypno, Violet! You take care of Rose!" I could hardly nod back to the girl as she took off and I was left to handle Rose on my own, while the others took care of her pokemon or Kyogre and Groudon.

_Hurry up, Jezebel! We need to end this before someone gets hurt by this woman!_

**Gwyn's Point of View:**

I cried out as I was thrown back by a shadow ball from Gengar before he disappeared into thin air and I wildly looked around for him. My entire team was assisting me with taking out her two pokemon and it was frustrating as hell to deal with them. Gengar had always been a difficult opponent; for one thing, he always was hiding on you, he was in the shadows, and that made it hard and easy for him to hide here with the crazy weather. When it was sunny, it was hard for him to hide except in between the rocks, but when it rained, he could hide anywhere he wanted. But now this other pokemon, Hypno- it was a pain in the ass to deal with its psychic powers and quick moving body. Rose had this hypno before Jez was even five, so she's had him for Lugia knows how many years. He's quick on his feet (an advantage I'd also give to his psychic powers) and has powerful psychic attacks. We couldn't land a hit on him, at least not all of us. North Wind came pretty close most times and managed to hit him a few times as well, but that pokemon was dancing on its feet and using its teleporting abilities to keep itself from being touched or hit as well.

The two of them were a battle we could handle, but under the pressures we had upon our shoulders of keeping the people safe and trying to take down Rose and all her pokemon (who, all three, didn't give a damn if anyone was hurt or killed), it was a difficult task. We also had the raging pokemon who were under her control that were trying to wreck the place. It made it hard to fight when our arena was always being chipped away by them.

"Blast Burn!" Cynder and I sucked in a breath before we fired a set of beams of white fire at the pokemon. He freaked out when he saw the attack and pulled up a shield around himself, but I saw it crack and break and the attack finally harmed him. The fire covered his entire body and he cried out in pain as he was burned before he used his psychic powers to push the flames away from him as they died off. His fur was burned; skin was showing from underneath it. Black, singed fur was also on his body where the fire didn't quite make it to skin. He looked like a freak, just like he was with his mental state and who he worked for.

"Let's take him down, guys!" My pokemon team cried out before we charged forward again to take on the pokemon and his companion hidden in the shadows.

**Witch's Note:**

**All right, so it's a shorter chapter, but we're starting to get here in on the action! And next chapter, we'll definitely be dealing with that, as well as many other factors that will be coming into play. And I do warn you, people, someone WILL DIE next chapter, so be prepared! **

**But as for who? You'll just have to wait and see!**

**Love you all and be sure to Review and send in Questions! See you all next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	25. Ending the Dispute

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 25: Ending the Dispute_

**Third Person Point of View: **

The storm was crashing above all their heads. Storm clouds pouring down rain clashed with intense sunlight that glared down to the earth below. The center of it was around the city of Sootopolis. Within its cove were two legendary beasts that fought to harm those that lived there because they were under the control of an evil woman who controlled their two orbs. The two beasts fought below against all the males of the IPHP League with their pokemon along with the single young girl who was not a changeling, Aria Charlotte. Crashing blows of multiple types kept the out of control pokemon at bay while their attacks were kept from the homes just a short distance away.

Above the entire battle sat another one. The battle above was fought by the two female changelings of the group, Violet, its leader, and Gwyn, her second in command (after Alexander, Violet's boyfriend). The two of them were locked fiercely in battle with Rosalie Agustino and her Pokemon- her loyal gengar and a perverted hypno. The two were incredibly powerful if they were able to hold back the attacks that Gwyn laid out against them. Violet herself was facing off against Rosalie, who took on the form of her hypno, the one Violet had to face over four years ago.

A cry could be heard from the pokemon below. It was a pained cry from the controlled Groudon and Kyogre who suffered with every attack they let loose onto the world around them. They cried out as their bodies ached and Rose was filled with delight from hearing their cries as they continued on their forced rampage. Those of the IPHP League could hear their cries too, hearing the pleas for help.

Violet howled in anger as the cries rang out and she rushed forward toward Rose, colliding with her as one fist was caught by Rose's and her other arm blocked an attack from the woman. Violet then resorted to her legs and Rose jumped over her, but not out of the way in time for Violet's tail to come wrapping around her leg and hurling her down below and into the water. The younger female dived in after her to try and submerge her below.

Below the water lay Gwyn who watched now in the form of her gyarados. Her two water pokemon were by her side and both dived after the woman. A gust attack from Gwyn's suicune and a twister from both herself and her gyarados pushed the woman further down. Violet then appeared with Rose still in her grasp as the two women were struggling for breath. Though against her crushing lungs' desires, Violet continued to submerge the woman and push her deeper with punches. One arm latched onto Rose's forearm, the other was sending punch after punch, burning with hell's flames coating her fist. She slammed it again and again into any section of Rose's body that could be reached.

Rose finally began her counterattack by changing her form to that of her gengar, becoming intangible and floating through Violet's body before erecting a curse upon her. The woman froze for a moment, but quickly pushed the pain away from her heart and sliced her claws upward at Rose. She cried out, but being under the water prevented her screams from being heard. Violet kicked her down further in the water before Gwyn and her two pokemon made more tornadoes under the water: one to push Rose down, the other to push Violet up. She had no water type pokemon to take the changeling form of and breathe down here; she would die just as fast as Rose if she did not get air soon.

Gwyn threw her attack at Violet and shoved her past the surface of the water where Violet's pokemon would be waiting before Gwyn herself turned to watch her pokemon keeping Rose in the depths of this area. There was no trace of her to be seen in the dark depths of the waters.

Upon the surface Violet heavily breathed as she made her way from water to land with the help of her pokemon team. She watched the others fighting against the beasts that howled in pain, but until Rose was dead and the orbs separated from her, they could do nothing. The woman had been sly enough to hide them and have her ghost pokemon hold onto them. He was hiding in the shadows and fighting as well, with the orbs inside his body.

"Mew damn that woman!" Violet hissed as she caught her breath in the arms of her dragonite. "Jezebel… hurry it up! In a one on one battle, we could take these guys so much more easily! But there's so many people around! We need you to quell Groudon and Kyogre!" She slammed her fist into some neighboring rocks beside her as her pokemon flew past with her in his arms.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Closing in on the island were Jezebel Emery-Twain and her final pokemon of her team, Empyrean, her rayquaza. The legendary beast of the sky and the final piece to the puzzle came forth toward the town, ready to cease the fighting and end the pokemon's suffering. Empyrean roared through the air and things suddenly seemed to have stilled for a moment. No sound carried on the wind, not even the weather, which had miraculously halted mid-change so that a beam of sunlight shone through the clouds and revealed Jezebel and her pokemon. Another one of the female beast's roars rang out and Kyogre and Groudon backed away, even under the spell of the orbs held inside the ghost pokemon's body.

Empyrean carried herself on the wind to where she put herself between the two pokemon and Jezebel flew to the side. While the battle was at a standstill, Jezebel's eyes glowed green and the center of her chest radiated light before the ghost pokemon appeared before her in pain and she grabbed him by his fat neck. The pokemon struggled in her hold, but she did not give way to him as she used the powers of the third orb and the borrowed power of her final pokemon to rip the orbs out of his ghostly body. His body wisped around the orbs until they were entirely pulled away and she held them in the air with telekinetic, levitating powers.

The two orbs were allowed to float away from the ghost pokemon's body and were handed to Jezebel's two male friends- the red orb to Casey Birch and the blue orb to Matthew Ashling. The two of them took the orbs into their hands before the legendary beasts finally started to move again, but this time calmly, and toward the trainers. The orbs glowed in the hands of the two trainers and they were carried into the air to face the legendary pokemon. The orbs were sucked into their bodies and the pasts shown to them through the hearts of the pokemon. Tears slipped from both young men's eyes before both of them pulled out pokeballs and tapped them on the faces of the legendary beasts before them.

"So you no longer have to suffer…" Matthew Ashling took in the mighty beast of the sea, Kyogre. The pokeball suddenly glowed blue and it became encased with a sapphire like crystal casing with ruby red glowing lines all over it, centering toward the button that would release the beast.

"So no one can hurt you again." Casey Birch took in the great beast of the land, Groudon. The pokeball glowed red before a ruby encasing covered it and bright lines of sapphire blue carved around the pokeball in patterns before centering at the button that would call the beast to reality.

Once the legendary beasts were out of the way and captured, freed from Rose's control, both of the boys were lowered back to the ground and forced to their knees from all the energy used to explain to them why the beasts wanted to be captured and protected. Jezebel watched the legendary pokemon happily, finally escape their suffering before she turned her head back to the pitiful gengar that was before her.

"Come on out, everyone; let's settle this. Blaze, Blade, take this pokemon down!" She threw the pokemon away from her just as her pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs and both of Jezebel's male fighting types jumped over her shoulders before throwing down their heels on the ghost pokemon's head and throwing it down to the ground.

"Where are you, Razi? I know you're here!" Rose's brother was the only one who had yet to reveal himself out on this battlefield, and was most likely waiting for an order that his sister was unable to give from the bottom of the ocean.

"Hiding from you, of course, Jezebel." The voice of the man whispered through the air. He was nearby, Jezebel could feel it.

"Come out into the open! Or are you scared?"

"You really think you can take me on?" She could hear chuckling from his voice. "Last time I nearly killed you, if it wasn't for Champion Gwyn Jalen!"

"But this time it's different!" The girl swung her body around and grabbed something that was hovering behind her. She squeezed the form she was holding tightly in her hands before Razi appeared in his changeling form, that of his mismagius. "I'm stronger now and a full changeling." She pulled his face closer to hers to see the death glare in her eyes. "And I'm not afraid of you!" She kicked his body down to the water down below where his sister was submerged. Jezebel dived after him, and from her mouth came a hyper beam attack that hit him square on as his form dissolved from shock and surprise. He was shoved deeper into the water and Jezebel quickly rose to the surface to join the others.

"Keep your eyes out!" Violet shouted over the silence that had fallen over the area. "Rose and Razi are not far away; they can attack again at any moment! It's too soon for them to give up!"

All members of the IPHP League and the young teens looked out over the area, watching for her.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

On the edge of the battlefield, Jezebel's family lay waiting for the all clear for them to see their children, but it was still too dangerous with Rose and Razi still loose in the water. Of all of them, Jezebel's mother was the one who was the most antsy to move. She waited with her hands held over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming as she watched her little girl fighting. The rest of the family watched, with equally pained expressions, but the one who hurt the most was the one who would be dying within a few weeks.

Matthew saw the pained look on her face and turned his head to Casey and Aria who stood with him. "I'm gonna go and talk to them and protect them up on the cliff." The two nodded to him and he raced as fast as his legs would carry him up the cliff. Appearing soon before Brittany Emery-Twain, he stopped before her and smiled.

"Mattie, what are you doing?" The woman questioned the young boy who stood before her.

"Everything is going to be okay, Mrs. Emery-Twain. Jezebel and the others are going to stop them." Matthew smiled up at the woman and walked up closer to her. "You and your family should really step back; we don't want anyone getting hurt. There's already so many of us risking our lives to stop them…" His eyes cast themselves downwards from her. "Jezebel would hate it if she lost you…" The woman gasped lightly at his statement. "She just found out that you were hypnotized all these years; now she wants to know the real you, with what little time she has left."

"My baby… she forgives me?"

Matthew looked up at her and smiled. "There was nothing to forgive since it wasn't your fault. She used to view you as a horrible woman, but now that the truth is revealed… she can't bring herself to hate you or blame you, since it wasn't your fault… but…" Matthew turned around to glare at the water. "That doesn't mean that she's any less furious with Rose."

"None of us are, Matthew." The woman sighed and looked at the ground. Memories of the day she met the vile woman and was placed under her spell still echoed in her head.

"Please, Mrs. Emery-Twain, call me Mattie." The young man smiled at her. "All my other friends call me that."

"I'm… your friend?" Brittany blinked as her eyes widened at the young man before her.

Matthew laughed. "You're just like her, you know, or she's just like you… Jezebel, that is." Matthew then took on a serious tone. "But you really do need to step back, Rose could be around anywhere since we lost track of her under the water, along with her brother."

The woman nodded and stepped back a bit with her family.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Rosalie Agustino broke the surface behind a good set of rocks away from the eyes and ears of the IPHP League and all the young teens that joined into their operations. She hissed lightly as she watched her two pokemon fighting for their lives out in the middle of the battlefield and being beaten badly while she was away.

Suddenly, bubbles appeared next to her before red hair came up next to her and she quickly pulled her brother to the surface and held him to her side. He gasped for air before her held onto his sister.

"Rose, they beat us… again…" Razi pounded the water, which turned a few heads. Their eyes widened as they were quick to dive back under the water. Rose and Razi quietly pulled themselves to the surface a good twenty feet away in another section of the cove. While the league checked out where they had just been, Razi turned to his sister. "Sorry about that, Sis… but what do we do?"

"Oh I'll do something, all right." Rose snarled and glared upward to see the young green haired boy talking to Jezebel's mother, Brittany. She grinned as she glanced up at her target and rose from the water, taking on her form of gengar before she flew up in the air towards the two. Razi grinned as he watched her fly up and no one was noticing her at all.

All until Violet's ears twitched and she turned to see Rose gunning right for Mattie…

"Mattie! Behind you!" The green haired boy only had enough time to turn around before the devil woman had appeared before him. He gasped as the woman dived, her clawed hands out before her and blood shot into the air.

A scream echoed out, one from Jezebel, as she watched the scene. No one had seen the flash of movement, not even Rose, until the last moment. Rose's claw was embedded through the chest area of Brittany Emery-Twain, who had taken the hit for Mattie, while the hand had still flown through at Mattie and torn open his shoulder from the angle.

Mattie cried out in pain and fell to his knees as he held his shoulder as it bled. His team crowded around him and watched as the woman who had protected him from the deathly blow stood before him, a shocked look to her face while blood slipped out of her nose and mouth. A bloody tear dripped down the side of her face.

She coughed out more blood and held onto Rose's arm when the woman went to yank it out. Even in the grip of the weaker woman, Brittany Emery-Twain held on with all the life still left in her to keep Rose from getting away.

"Mattie…" Brittany was quick to turn to the boy behind her and smiled at him when he looked at her with fearful eyes. "Please take care of my daughter…"

Rose's eyes widened and grinned at the blood before she yanked her arm out of the grip of the dying woman. Brittany fell to the ground and collapsed as the silence hit the air.

"MOM!" Jezebel screamed as the reality hit her and her eyes widened as she watched her mother being attacked and dying before her. Rage overtook her being and the girl sped over to Rose, first breaking off the arm that had been embedded in her mother's torso. Rose didn't scream as most of her mechanical arm was taken, but it was a machine after all.

Rose jumped away, now free of the woman's body. While Brittany lay in Matthew's arms, Jezebel sped forward and changed her form to that of her blaziken. With her powerful legs, she leapt at Rose with such speed and fury the woman wasn't able to keep up. Within seconds, Jezebel had gotten closer to the woman as she tried to escape and had her claws extended to where she reached forward and sliced away at Rose's neck, taking large chunks of skin with her.

Rose hardly had enough time to scream before she collapsed to the ground and ended up rolling her body over the cliff. The woman was struggling to breathe as she fell and it was her brother and her pokemon that came to her rescue before she would suffocate from the disconnection of her vital tubes in her throat due to Jezebel Emery-Twain. Razi glared up at Jezebel before focusing on his sister.

"Gengar, keep her blood in her veins and not slipping out; Hypno, you teleport us all to a safe location so we can take care of this, now!" In the next second the set of them vanished without a trace. Jezebel screamed and looked around for them with an extreme growling in her voice before she turned back to look at her mother, slowly dying on the rocks.

"Jezebel!" The younger female looked to Violet, who called out to her. "Go to your mother! We'll look for Rose! She couldn't have gotten too far!" Violet turned to her members. "Find Rose! She's on the brink of death and it'll take a miracle to revive her, but I bet Razi can do it!"

The IPHP League jumped into the air and fanned out while Jezebel turned back to her dying mother on the rocks in Matthew's arms. Tears started to slip down her face while her family crowded around her mother. Jezebel slowly jumped up the rocks to meet up with them, and prepared to either save her mother, or prepare for her death.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

On an island to the south of the battle, Razi appeared with Rose's team out. He set Rose out on the sand to try and make her more comfortable. Her neck was sliced right open. Claw marks were visible all along it with pieces of skin that also came off when Jezebel had gripped it and ripped.

_If Razi had not been there, Rose most likely would not have made it…_

"All right, you two; get ready to supply for her! We don't have much time before the league shows up!" The younger brother turned to his older sister. "Rose, Gengar stopped the bleeding, but for you to heal, we need you to suck the energy out of us with dream eater. Take all that you need to heal yourself or you're a goner!"

Rose growled at the wording her brother used. Razi had his hand over her sliced open neck and could feel the severed cords moving as he held them there when she growled. He looked down at her in worry; normally he didn't give a damn about this feeling against his hand so long as the person died, but this was his sister, the one who came up with all the plans, who was dying before him.

"Rose! Sis! Please! You'll die soon and never complete your revenge!"

Rose finally gave in and sighed before she took on the traits of her gengar. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she could not. Her eyes widened before she growled again and thought of the move in her mind before she would be dead. From the three before her, she sucked out the energy of all of them and it directly went to her neck to tie things back together and drain that of her pokemon's energy and that of her brother's. She used this process until she was able to cover her neck in a thick veil of skin, bright red in color and showing off the large amount of skin that Jezebel had taken from her, her entire neck was almost red, meaning the entire front of it was destroyed.

Her pokemon fell to the ground, knocked out from all that was taken from them. Razi was all right, for Rose only took a small amount from him so he could still use his abilities to get them out of there. Razi picked up his sister in his arms, careful of her neck, and levitated up into the air. He returned Rose's pokemon to their balls on her belt and flew away from the battleground behind them, going back to recover and start all over again.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I rushed up to the side of my family and my mother who was in the arms of my best friend. Mattie held onto my mother as the blood seeped out of her. My eyes widened and I took on the form of Silky and released her to help me out.

"Come on, Silky. Morning sun!" I dropped down next to my mother and used my healing attack. Silky was about to help me when a hand got into our way. I blinked up at it and watched as my mother stopped me. She gently pushed my hands away and blinked her tear-filled eyes at me.

"Don't… Jezzy…" I was startled out of my healing and took her hand into my own. "It's all right…"

"No, it's not! You're dying!" I pushed my hands back over her abdomen. "Let me heal you!"

"It's not worth it… I was dying anyway…" She held up her hand to my cheek. "I have brain cancer… I have for years… I've been fighting it most of your life…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I hiccupped. My eyes were pouring tears. It was no different than a waterfall pouring water over rocks.

"Rose… she got to me eight years ago… prevented me from telling anyone…" I felt my mother's fingers brush over every little portion of my face. "And even if she hadn't gotten to me… I only had a few weeks left…"

"But that's still time, Mom! Still time you can use!"

"I've suffered for too many years, Jezebel… I've prepared myself for this moment… I'm ready to die…"

"But I'm not! None of us are!" I gripped her fragile hand in my own and held it to my face again. My heart was swelling with so many emotions that I'd never felt before in my life, that I'd never felt for her. But because of Rose, raging sorrow came to my heart.

"But I'm surrounded by my family… something I've wanted for years now… something that was taken from all of us because of that woman…" She suddenly made a high-pitched sound and blood shot out of her mouth.

"Mom!" I raced to cover her with my hands again to heal her, but she batted them off.

"Don't… I'm ready, Jezebel…"

"But I'm not!" I sobbed. "Mom… I never got to know the real you!"

"You still can…" My eyes widened as I looked at her. "Jezebel… I recorded everything that happened to me in diaries… I have for my entire life… ever since I could write… your father can show you where they are…" I looked back at my father and watched as he wept above me before he dropped on his knees next to me. My uncles and aunts followed suit.

"Brittany… I wish I had known…" My mother reached up to wipe away my father's tears.

"Norman… I love you… I love all of you…" She looked around to all of us before she looked back at her husband. "Norman, you and Mattie take care of my baby girl…"

"We will, Brittany!" Mattie was quick to respond first and my mother smiled at him.

"You're a good boy, Mattie… I know you'll be good to my daugh…ter…" My mother's eyes rolled into the back of her head and I watched as her hand fell from my father's cheek. My eyes widened as I watched as she faded away from us; she felt lifeless. I slowly reached out toward her with shaking hands… her skin… it already felt… _cold…_ to the touch…!

"Mom!" I could barely form the word as it came out of my mouth. "Mother!" I thrashed forward to get closer to her body, but my father held me back. He crushed me into his chest, afraid to let me go for his own sanity. I cried. All I could do was cry as I watched my mother's lifeless body lie before me. I reached out from my father's hold and my eyes widened when I saw the blood drying up and turning darker.

"MOTHER!"

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh. God… and now a moment of silence for the character of Brittany Emery-Twain, who died before her family, finally happy. **

…**.**

…**.**

…**.**

**But there was the death I promised you all, and the almost-death of Rose has come forth. Jezebel has rendered the woman speechless- total loss of voice entirely. It'll be a while before we see her again, but who knows about her brother. **

**I hope this chapter struck the hearts of you readers and I hope it was the battle chapter that you were hoping for. I'll begin working on the next chapter, which will deal with many flashbacks and reading in Brittany's diaries along with court. Will they see the same things that the IPHP League and the families see? Or will all four of Jezebel's aunts and uncles be sent to prison? You'll have to tune in next time to find out!**

**Please send in Reviews and Questions for me! We have only about 12 chapters left before this story is over! We're coming closer to the end! Love you all and see you next week with another chapter!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	26. Settling Things with Family

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 26: Settling Things with Family_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It had been a few weeks since my mother had been killed by Rose, and we were only a couple of days away from my uncles' and aunts' hearing in court. I'd spent most of the time since then mulling over the death of my mother and breaking things out of rage. My pokemon were with me the entire time. They kept me from going insane.

Recently, I'd given up on just letting my emotions run wild. It was better to keep them in and pent up and ready to spring on Rose when I next would see her, and trust me, I'd kill her when I did. Instead, I tried to spend time with my friends; they did their best to try and keep me distracted and what not, but it didn't help, especially when we had to go to my mother's funeral.

It was held in Petalburg; everyone was there. Not many people had liked my mother, so there were only twenty or so of us there, the family, my few friends, and the IPHP League. My aunts and uncles were allowed to leave Sootopolis to join us. It was also the last time that I got the chance to see my mother during that time. She was to be buried then at the Petalburg Cemetery.

When I saw her there that day, the gaping wound that Rose had left in her had been covered. An emerald green dress, her apparent favorite, was worn over her dead, pale body. When I asked Dad about it, he'd mentioned that it was the dress she'd worn to all family events right after my parents were married. It was also her favorite color, the same as mine. It was rightfully so that she wore it to the grave.

Once the funeral was over, I spent all of my time locked up in my room reading my mother's diaries. There were so many of them… I couldn't believe the massive numbers of them. Boxes upon boxes… my mother's history was all in these pages, from the days she learned how to write up until the morning before her death. I found diaries dated as early as when my mother was four years old. I remember reading one of those entries…

_"Momma got me this diary so I could write about myself! My name is Brittany Emery! I have a little brother named Maxie and a Momma and Daddy! I love pokemon and I wanna be a strong trainer when I get older!"_

I remember smiling when I read further into her life. What really made me grin was when I read up to the point where my mother had become a trainer, just when she'd turned thirteen. She was just like me, except she had a better upbringing since she never had to deal with the shit of having her family hypnotized. Reading the entry was pretty cool when I saw it.

_"I can't believe it. I'm finally thirteen! I finally can become a pokemon trainer! Just like I wanted! Oh, my parents were going to give me torchic! I couldn't wait to have the small baby pokemon in my arms and look after it and then actually have a great team!_

_And that means that I get to take you on my adventures as well, Diary. I can't believe I've finally made it this far in my life. This… this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me… well, except for those cute Twain boys that live just up the road at the Petalburg Gym. Their names were Archie and Norman. Archie was such a dream chaser. He had his mind set on learning everything he could about the ocean and all the pokemon that live there, while his younger brother Norman… he was such a sweetheart… but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life. He was a trainer… and he battled at the gyms… but he still wasn't sure what to do… I think he'd be best as the gym leader, taking over after his grandfather. It's his passion to fight alongside that slaking of his. She is a monster at battling and would dominate all trainers, not to mention it's a mark of the Petalburg Gym to have a Slaking by the gym leader. Norman's grandfather has one and it's the parent of his slaking. _

_So, now all that's left to do is go get torchic! Mom and Dad should be bringing her by soon! Oh, I can't wait to have her! I'm thinking of naming her Blazy, for how powerful she'll be, or for how she already is. I know she's going to be a strong pokemon, because, even though we haven't met yet, she's my pokemon. As long as I believe in her, we can do anything. I know we can. _

_So I'm heading out of here now, Diary. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about Blazy and the team I'll have soon enough!"_

Her entries after consisted entirely of the team she acquired. Her first pokemon, as she said in the last passage, was named Blazy. It was her torchic, who was amazingly strong in battle. My mother constantly noted how her fire was the hottest that she'd ever seen. Over time her first pokemon evolved into a combusken and then into a blaziken. Over the course of the next three years, she talked about their adventures and the pokemon team she'd put together. Over time she'd put together a team of a metagross, a swellow, a roserade, a whiscash, and a froslass. I found a picture of all seven of them attached to an entry of hers when she had just turned sixteen.

_"Both of my parents are gone now. Maxie and I are on our own. My poor little brother was so heartbroken when Mom and Dad died in that explosion. I had to stay strong for him, but it was hard when I wanted to be on the road. _

_I was thinking about just heading out on the road with him. Making sure that he'd be okay while he and I both travel around. I'd been around this region a few times, but it always seemed like there was something I was missing. I always found another new thing that I'd never seen before when I traveled. I was hoping that the new experience would help Maxie move past the deaths of our parents. _

_Things have changed, though, with me and Norman, I have to say. He recently took over the gym for his deceased grandfather. While it still saddens him that the older man isn't around, he's taken over the gym well and seems pretty well unbeatable. I don't think there's a person around who has beaten him, except me, of course. I beat him with Blazy. She was amazing against Norman's slaking in battle. Never was he so stunned by a battle… and after the battle… he kissed me! Oh, I can't believe I finally said it! Or wrote it! No one knows other than him! _

_Oh, Latias! Maxie's coming! Gotta go!"_

I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked over the entries of my mother's young love-struck mind. Yet, I still scowled, as she had lost her parents when she was young, only sixteen. Here I was facing similar issues with my own mother dead with me at age thirteen. I still had my father though. He was still there for me.

My mother had then noted in her diaries that she took my uncle traveling with her after that, and he took a liking to the northwestern area of the region, where Mt. Chimney was located along with the desert and the mountains. Mom spent most of her time there for a good year before she had to force my uncle to check out new areas, such as the islands to the east. My uncle clearly didn't care for it, but put up with it anyway, as my mother said.

Apparently something happened, though, when my mother turned eighteen. A large explosion apparently took place over in Mauville City, and my mother and her team were in the heart of it. A nuclear explosion, just when I thought my mother's life couldn't get any worse after she lost her parents and had been hypnotized by Rose. The plant was deactivated and they were moving the stuff out of the region to places that were more isolated to keep people from being hurt, but my mother somehow got caught up in the explosion. Her pokemon all came out to protect her, and from what she noted in her entries, all of her team died other than Blazy.

_"I can't believe it… my team is dead… that team I spent years with and working together with, my friends, my __**family**__… they were all dead… all but Blazy… but she won't last much longer… Blazy's been bedridden in the pokemon center. My best friend and my most powerful pokemon is a victim of cancer, just the same as me. While I might have survived the initial blast because of my team protecting me, now Blazy and I have to suffer from what is still left in our bodies. I have it, too. Cancer. I have to say, though, that I have a chance; Blazy will be dead in months._

_But my beautiful Blazy… she had a miracle before she really went south. She had an egg. A single egg. Her child. I promised her that I'd find a safe place for that egg and make sure that it got all the love that she wouldn't be able to give. I ended up finding Professor Birch; he was a young professor, only about my age or so, but what he knew was incredible. I figured that it would be safe to leave the egg in his hands and hopefully one day that child would know how amazing its mother was, and how hard she fought." _

I was thrown for a loop when I saw this entry. It was worth a trip to see the professor and Casey to find out what happened to that egg. I wanted to know where that baby had ended up so I could tell it about both our parents.

I closed the diary and, after marking its page, I called out Acey and hopped on her back to fly out to Littleroot Town.

Since the death of my mother, my father and I sold her house and the few items of hers that I knew she didn't care if they were given to others. The few items we kept were family jewelry and her favorite hand-carved box. I had her jewelry in it, her rings, her necklaces, bracelets… Dad thought it would be best for me to have them. Since the house came out of our hands, it was sold to another small family who seemed to love the area. Hopefully they love living there and stay there for a long time.

I arrived in Littleroot Town just as the professor and Casey seemed to be leaving their house. I saw the professor in high spirits. While my mother's death had bothered him, and his family had gone to the funeral, he needed to move on. But it made me question how much he was really letting onto from the journal entries my mother left behind.

"Jezebel!" The professor cried out as he saw me land before his house. He was dressed up in a rubber suit with a jacket over it and boots on. My thoughts went to him checking out the rainy route of route one-nineteen. Casey seemed to be dressed similarly to him and had a hat on his head. A grin set in on his face when he looked at me.

"Come on, Aria! We're getting ready to leave, and Jez is here!" Casey called back to the house and I was shocked to see my first female friend jump out of the house and grab me in a death hug.

"Jez!" She was dressed somewhat like the other two, but only had boots and a jacket. A backpack was on her shoulder with her notepad and her laptop as well. "It's so good to see you out of your home! What's up?"

"I was actually hoping to ask the professor a question." Professor Birch looked at me in confusion. "I was reading my mother's diaries and came to a section that… shocked me."

"Oh?" The professor raised his eyebrows at me. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Because she mentioned you in the passage," I sighed as I looked down at the ground, focusing on a blade of grass before I looked back up at him. "My mother had mentioned in a diary that her blaziken had a single egg before she died from cancer, and had left the egg with you." The professor's eyes suddenly lost the shine to them and he rubbed the back of his head. "I came to ask what happened to the pokemon in that egg. I want it to know about its parents and all that they went through."

"Well…" Professor Birch sighed and dropped his hand from his head. "I can't do that, Jez."

"What?" My eyes went wide at his response. "Why not?"

"Because you already told him and have him with you." The professor walked over to me and reached for Blaze's pokeball on my belt and let him out, only for my pokemon to look shocked at the two of us. "Blaze is Blazy's son."

"…What?"

"Blaze is the son of Blazy. He is the egg that your mother gave me almost twenty years ago."

"But… Blaze isn't that old! He's only a few years at best!"

"Also true." The professor groaned and sat down on a lawn chair outside his house. "You see, your mother gave me Blazy's egg when I'd just become a professor. She seemed to think it would be best in my hands. That was seventeen years ago." The professor pulled out his pokenav and looked at the screen. "But for many years, as I watched the egg, it never hatched. I became concerned that it had died on me, but… the egg still shook over time. It was also warm and had a heartbeat, but for years, the egg just wouldn't hatch. It wasn't until a couple years ago that Blaze finally hatched from his egg, and I thought it was a miracle, after being in that egg for over twelve years."

"Twelve years?" Casey was the one to question this time. "But how?"

"I have a theory, Jez, and it revolves around the explosion your mother and Blazy were in. I believe that, because of the explosion and the radiation that was transferred into his egg, all those years were spent trying to dispel it into the outer shell and out of his body. I believe this because when his egg finally hatched, I did some experiments on Blaze and found his shell had a decent level of radiation, but his body possessed none of it. And that may be why it took so many years for him to hatch and why he's still so young, when he really should be about fifteen years or so in age."

"Does that mean you intentionally gave me Blaze?"

"Yes and no." The professor shrugged. "I wasn't about to give you him if he didn't want to go, but he was happy with you. Like I said when I first gave him to you, the pokemon chooses its trainer, not the other way around. Though I have to say…" He smiled over at me. "You have no idea how happy was I was to give you Blaze- that both kids from all this hell that your parents had to go through, could be together, as the last living reminders of their parents."

I smiled and took Blaze's hand in my own. "Thanks, Professor; I won't take up any more of your time now."

"It's no problem, Jez! In fact, why don't you come with us and check out the area? I'm sure you'll have some fun, and maybe I could tell you more about Blazy and your mother."

I grinned up at him. "I'd like that, Professor."

**Matthew's Point of View:**

It'd been a while since I'd seen Jezebel, so I thought I would visit her. I'd recently moved back into my parents' home in Petalburg, not only to settle my fretting parents' worries when they'd seen my wounded shoulder, but to also be closer to Jezebel. I promised her mother that I'd take care of Jezebel and I intended to do that, since I knew that her mother's death would be hard on Jezebel, and more challenges would come, since I had a sinking feeling that Jezebel would join up with Violet just to go after Rose and kill her for closure.

I knocked on the front door of her house and waited to hear from either her or her father. As I thought it over, I wanted so desperately to just tell her how I felt. Jezebel was my savior, in more ways than one. She saved me from being that quiet, shy little boy that didn't think he could do anything with his life… and look at me now. I was a trainer; I had nearly all my gym badges; only one away from being able to challenge the Pokѐmon League. She helped me when we were facing her family; she protected me from harm.

And out of all the people I knew, her mother wanted me to look after her… was that a sign? I hoped this wasn't some trick…

The door opened before me and I was happy to see that someone was home. Jezebel's father Norman answered the door and grinned over at me.

"Hey, Mattie!" He moved out of the way. "I bet you're looking for Jez."

"Yes, sir…" I nodded to him.

He clamped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me in. "Jez left a while back, but why don't you stick around and chat with me until she comes back?"

"Um… okay?" I wasn't exactly sure what Norman was playing at. I mean, don't get me wrong, Jezebel's father was an extremely kind man and I appreciate what he's done for me too, like introduce me to his daughter and allow me to borrow a pokemon (even if I never did use it).

"So, Mattie, have you been able to move back in with your parents with ease?" Norman took a seat upon one of his chairs next to his nieces and nephews that were staying with him while his brother and sisters-in-law and brother-in-law were all awaiting trial in Sootopolis.

"Yes… though Mother and Father have been quite upset with the wound I gained, but thanks to the IPHP League and Jezebel, I'm doing much better. Some of their healing even went to my heart and I don't have to have another surgery again, unless… something goes wrong… I guess…"

"Glad to hear it, kid." He motioned me to sit next to him on the couch while the younger children were watching some cartoons. "So there's something that's been bugging me a bit, and I'd like to talk to you about it. Man to man."

My eyes widened at him. "Y-y-yes?"

Norman sighed heavily. "My… late wife… she'd told you to look after Jezebel for her." He glanced over at me and I was surprised to hear that Jezebel's cousins had muted their TV to listen in.

"W-w-w-el-ll…" I couldn't help but stutter heavily as I was put under investigation by Jezebel's father, who sat next to me. My face was redder then a tamato berry and I felt heavy beads of sweat rolling off of me.

"I bet he likes her and that's why Auntie Brittany asked him to!" Young Nixie Twain, the youngest of Jezebel's cousins, laughed at my embarrassment.

"It wouldn't surprise me, and who doesn't like Jez?" Enya, the other female cousin, questioned.

"Anybody that's she's pissed off with her attitude!" Her older twin, Edan, laughed.

"Hey, do you really like our cousin?" It was the eldest of all of them, Caspian, who questioned me. I could feel his eyes boring into me, as well as Norman's.

"I-I-I'm so-orry Mr. Tw-wain… but… I-I do like Jezebel… a lot… I-I treasure our friendship… she's been my savior… she has stood by my side through thick and thin… I couldn't help but develop feelings for her…" I lowered my head and refused to look up at the furious Norman Twain sitting next to me. "I'm sorry… I can't stop how I feel."

"Well… I wouldn't want you to." I was shocked to hear that his voice was calm and I glanced up to see that Norman just had an eyebrow raised. "I guess I should have noticed it when you got her a guitar for Christmas, a nice choice by the way. I love to hear her play."

"Aren't you… mad at me?"

"Well… I can't really be. You've done just as much for my daughter as she's done for you, Mattie." He patted my shoulder. "And if it came down to it someday, I'd be pretty happy to have you as a son in law." I couldn't help but smile. "But don't think I've given up my baby to you yet."

I blinked. "W-what?"

He grinned. "I'm not ready to hand over my baby girl, and I don't think I will even on her wedding day, so be prepared to fight for her for the rest of your life, because you have to go through me!"

"Dad! What are you mouthing off about now?" All of us raised our heads to see a saturated Jezebel walk through the front door. She scowled at him. "And what are you doing to Mattie?"

Nixie laughed. "He's picking on him because he likes-"

I jumped out of my seat and covered the younger girl's mouth. She blinked at me in surprise, as did everyone in the room. Jezebel seemed to be the most surprised and blinked at me a few times before her eyebrows furrowed.

"Mattie, what's going on?" Her arms crossed themselves and I was more worried than anything if a cousin told out my secret. Yes, I liked the girl, loved her even… but I wasn't ready to tell her, not yet, not with her mother dead just a few weeks ago.

"Oh… it was nothing…"

"_Matthew_." I flinched at her tone, much like all the others did. Everyone seemed to flinch and shrink down a few inches, or even feet in my case, as I watched her glare practically ripping me apart.

"Well… your father… he… uh… was just… teasing me… about… how many… girl pokemon I had on my team!"

"What? His strongest pokemon is a female!" Jezebel hurled herself on her feet to face her father, who in turn went pale before her fury and the fire in her eyes. "Latias damn it Dad! Don't you dare pull that stuff on Mattie, joking or not!"

"But… but Jez-"

"I don't wanna hear your excuses!" The man flinched back heavily and the girl of my dreams reached in my direction and grabbed my hand in her own. "Come on, Mattie; let's head up to my room where my father won't bother us!" She dragged me off just as I had to moment to look over and see her father glaring at me. I knew I would be a dead man because of him, but for now, I would just bask in the small glory of my victory against him with his daughter.

"Oh, look! She's holding his hand!" Nixie cried out in glee as she watched Jezebel whisk me off. I watched as her face turned red and she moved quicker to get away. I couldn't help but let my face flush slightly itself. _If she's getting red too, does that mean…?_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

A couple days after the incident with my father and Mattie, it was time for the court case for my uncles and aunts. I didn't exactly dress up for the court date. I just went in my normal trainer clothes. The same was the case with everyone else. We arrived at the courthouse in Sootopolis where the trial was supposed to take place late that morning. Violet assured me that it would be a short one, but some people would be debating about it for a while. There were certain people who believed that my aunts and uncles were out to get them and wanted to fight against them in court, but Violet was ninety percent certain that all charges would be dropped and passed over onto Rose's head.

"All rise for Judge Cordelia." All of us stood from our seats as a female judge appeared in the judge's seat. She sat and we all did as well, following her lead. The courtroom we were in was a stiff-looking dark-stained wooden one with some security cameras in the corners to keep an eye on any suspicious character, such as Rose, if she was here.

"Thank you. Now, we are here on the behalf of Archie and Shelly Twain along with Maxie and Courtney Emery, heads of Team Aqua and Team Magma, major crime organizations throughout our home region of Hoenn, who have attacked many companies and people throughout the region. Will the opposed to pardoning their actions please rise and speak to the court?"

"Of course, Your Honor." A male lawyer stood from his seat and opened his briefcase and pulled out some papers before walking out before the judge. Violet huffed as she watched him rant and he winked at her, making her snarl. "My clients, many businesses throughout the region of Hoenn, have all been stolen from by those two evil teams lead by those four individuals that stand before us. Because they have taken from us, should they not give back in order to cover their crimes? Business has been lost due to these four. It's only right that they serve for their crime that they've committed in this region."

"Very well. thank you." The judge cut off the man before he could say more and turned to Violet, who was acting as our own lawyer. "Will the defense rise and state their case?"

"Of course, Your Honor." Violet stood from her seat and walked out to where the other man was. She hissed at the male lawyer and he flinched back before rushing to his seat. "Dear people, we live in a world were not all things are black and white. There is grey in between- the uncertain, the questionable, things that happen that we're not entirely sure about. These instances are caused by people who live in the grey, such as Rosalie Agustino, who murdered thousands of lives with her bare hands." Voices echoed in the courtroom and I'm sure the man was starting to sweat as he watched Violet deliver her case. "Over eight years ago, she hypnotized five people- the four you see before you in this court room, and the late Brittany Emery-Twain. The four before you were hypnotized to awake Kyogre and Groudon, the legendary beasts of water and earth, to take over the Hoenn region. The fifth of them, Brittany, was hypnotized in order to prevent Rose from being revealed. She was hypnotized because she saw what happened to her family and tried to stop it." She looked to the judge and then to the people. "We should not criticize those that never meant to hurt anyone, but hunt the ones who caused all this damage and are the real reason why all this pain and harm has been inflicted on all of us."

"Thank you, Miss Vilmos." The judge nodded to Violet and she took a seat and the judge turned to the opposed. "Mr. Abel, would you reveal your first piece of evidence?"

"Yes, I will." The man stood up again and I sighed. This was going to be a long day…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a long process of showing apparent evidence of crimes that both Team Aqua and Team Magma had done over the course of the past few years. Most of it was charts that showed the damage that Team Aqua and Team Magma had caused. As much as I thought it wouldn't amount to anything, it apparently had a good impact on the jury and the judge. I was pretty happy when Violet countered easily with the hypnotism and showed a few examples by using Gwyn to demonstrate to the court how easy it to hypnotize a random individual of the judge's choosing.

Violet also used evidence from my mother's diaries. It was a side mission of my own to gather any evidence in my mother's past that could be used in the court to help us. I found the entry prior to and from the day she was hypnotized. Her speaking was entirely different in the two different entries, and it was easy for the court to see when we read out the entries and allowed the judge to look over them as well. She also mentioned seeing something, but couldn't remember what it was, and Violet placed her bets on that memory being her mind trying to free itself of the control, but losing, and falling prey to Rose.

I clenched my fists as I thought about this. It made my blood boil.

The judge listened to all that the two of them had to present as evidence before she asked certain people to come out and talk to the court about their parts in Team Aqua or Team Magma or how those teams affected them. They brought out members of the teams that had been quite screwed up in the head, and I didn't care to hear them as they mocked and trashed both sets of my family. They made my family look like real villains instead of the innocent victims they'd been.

Eventually, my Uncle Archie was brought to the stand. He sat there, depressed as hell, as he waited for Mr. Abel to ask him his questions.

"So, Mr. Twain, you were the head of Team Aqua, yes?"

"I was," my uncle answered him sadly.

"And you were the one that assigned most of the tasks to your team?"

"I… I… guess…"

"I need a 'yes' or a 'no,' Mr. Twain."

"…Yes…"

"Thank you; now if you assigned those tasks, then you are the one responsible for all the damage, yes?"

"Wait a minute! But I was hypnotized!"

"A yes or no answer, Mr. Twain."

"Screw your 'yes' or 'no' answers! I was hypnotized by Rose! So was most of my family!" He jumped from his seat at the stand. "I don't care about myself! If you wanna lock me up, then do it already! But don't drag my family into this too! If you want your damn revenge, then take me!"

"Mr. Twain!" Judge Cordelia snapped at my uncle. "Answer the man's questions, and control your temper, or you will be forced to leave this courtroom, and all your answers will be invalid!"

My uncle looked defeated as he sighed heavily and sat back down.

"So, again, then, Mr. Twain, you are the one responsible for all the damage, yes?"

"Yes." My uncle growled his answer but stayed in his seat and kept quiet. The dark look in his eyes made the lawyer back up in fear before he looked over at the judge.

"N-no more questions, Your Honor!" He fled back to his seat in a mad dash and Violet swiftly took up a piece of paper of her own before she walked before my uncle.

"Mr. Twain, or may I call you Archie?"

"Archie is fine, Miss Vilmos."

"Well then, Archie, would you be willing to tell me and the court what it was like the day that you were hypnotized?"

"Of course. Now that I'm free of her control, I remember it so well. She seemed like a kind young woman when we first saw her on my walk together with my family. Once she stopped to ask us about what we loved to do, and when we both said we wanted to help the environments of pokemon, she then grinned at us, and the hypno at her side was before all of us, hypnotizing us. I felt a dark haze overcome my vision, and as she was giving us our orders, I heard my sister in law shout out and before I felt myself lose consciousness, she was given orders as well, orders to make Jezebel's life a living hell and to forget our encounter, as she had done to us."

Violet's eyes narrowed. "And what were your orders, Archie?"

"Mine and Shelly's orders were to locate Kyogre and awaken it for her with the red orb. She ordered us to do anything that would allow us to achieve this order. She said the same exact orders to Maxie and Courtney, except that she wanted them to find Groudon, but she told them to awake it with the blue orb."

"I see… now, you were trying to say something to the court earlier, about how you would take the place of your family if you had the chance. Is this true?"

"Of course it is." My uncle looked at her dead in the eye. "Any one of us would for each other, after all we've been through and all the fighting we've had to endure due to Rose's hypnotic spell. I would happily take their place, just as I know that they would for me, if they got the chance."

"Thank you, Archie. Would you please go back to your seat?" My uncle nodded and stood up from the stand before Violet called another member up to get more information from other people who were in the audience.

After a while, Violet got through most of the people, along with the other members of my family that had similar, if not identical, answers to my uncle. The judge had them listen to them for the longest of time before I was shocked that I was called to the stand. Mattie was at my side at the time and squeezed my hand before I slowly rose and was led to the questioning booth. Mr. Abel had first crack at me. _Joy…_

"So Miss Emery-Twain, what is your relation to the four that are accused?"

"I'm their niece; they are my uncles and aunts."

"How exactly did you get involved in their operations?"

"I saw that my family was taking advantage of others, so I was stopping them."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

I sighed. _This was going to end well…_ "They were having their members attack people on the streets and members of companies for items and pokemon. I did all I could to stop them. I didn't mind the stress reliever of beating up the members, either."

"So would you say that your family was evil, back when you were facing them? "Yes" or "no"?"

"The only evil that we saw was-"

"A "yes" or "no" answer, Miss Emery Twain."

He was pulling the same trick that he had on Uncle Archie. I glared at him_. I would not fall prey as well._

"No."

"No? Your answers do not match up, Miss Emery-Twain."

"Well, maybe if you allowed me to explain rather then cut me short with "yes" or "no" questions, then maybe they would."

"Your answer is invalid, then." He huffed and turned away and I stuck out my tongue at him. While he went back to his seat, Violet got up and smiled at me before she motioned me to put my tongue back in.

"Miss Emery-Twain, or may I call you Jezebel?"

"That's fine; doesn't matter to me."

"That last question that Mr. Able presented to you- would you explain in the detail you were going to? Before he cut you off?"

"Objection!" Mr. Abel shot out of his seat. "I called that answer invalid! Therefore, the defendant shouldn't have the opportunity to use the same question!"

The judge's gavel slammed down on the desk. "Overruled." She turned to Violet. "Continue, Miss Vilmos."

"Thank you, Ma'am." She turned back to me. "Jezebel?"

"Like I was trying to say earlier, I wouldn't say that they were evil. The only evil that I saw was the reflection of Rose's evil through the mind control. It's like she put a piece of herself into them when she had control. That evil showed through when I saw them trying to go after the orbs and Kyogre and Groudon. It's gone now; somehow we broke the control on all of them." I looked out to the seats where they were placed as they watched me. I smiled at them. "I don't hold them responsible. Only Rose. She's the reason why they acted that way, and also the reason why mother is dead… but as much I know that woman has to die and I have to help stop her, just because of what she's done to my family, I still have to thank her, because if I didn't get tortured by my family to the point where I'd fight back, I wouldn't be the person I am today and stop them, at the cost of losing my mother, just before I was getting to know her."

Violet smiled at me. "Is there anything else you'd like to add to your statement?"

"No, Ma'am."

"No more questions, Your Honor."

"Very well. All of the information has been processed. We will have a ten-minute recess in order for the jury to come to their decision. Any last-minute statements will be presented right now before we leave. Miss Emery-Twain, you may head back to your seat." I nodded and did as such. "Mr. Abel?"

The man stood back up and paced before the court. "I believe in an easy system, a "yes" or a "no." By forcing people to give short answers, they cannot lie. When I asked my questions, I gave everyone no chance to think of a lie, because all they could say was "yes" or "no." The real truth is revealed through my questions rather than Miss Vilmos' chance for them to make a cover story for themselves."

I shook my head at him. _Idiot…_

Violet then took her own stand. "Like I said before, not everything can be concretely black and white like Mr. Able would wish it to be. Grey is in between, just like Rose and her evil and what they've done to this family. All they want is time to grieve the loss of Brittany Emery-Twain and move on. I let them have a chance to tell their story, so the real truth that Rose hid for years finally came out."

"Thank you both. Time for recess." The judge slammed her gavel down and we slowly began to get up from our seats.

I turned to my father. "Dad, do you think we won this?"

"From the grin Violet's giving, I'd say so, but don't set up the party just yet."

"Got it."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, we all came back in and sat down before the court. I felt the fear and worries of my aunts and uncles who sat before us. They were scared for this outcome.

"And now we will reveal the results. Will the jury give them?"

"We will now, Your Honor." One of the members of the jury stood up and held a piece of paper before himself. "We find that the accused four are not guilty. All alleged crimes are to be tacked onto Rosalie Agustino's list of crimes. No payments will be made to the companies."

"Case closed, then. Bring in the next case."

We scurried out of there, and before I knew it, I was in a hug from all my relatives. I laughed as they rejoiced at their freedom, and because the weight of us being against each other was off my chest for good.

"Well, now all that's left is to find a good home in Petalburg then." Uncle Archie grinned as he took hold of his wife and kids. He looked over at my father. "You know a good few places that are being sold in town, Norman?"

"Really?" My father beamed as he came up to my uncle. "You're moving back?"

"We both are." Uncle Maxie came over with Aunt Courtney on his arm, and a child on each one of their free hands. "It's time we move back to our real home."

"I'll show you guys all the places for sale! There are even some close to our home!"

"But we also need to find new jobs." Aunt Shelly sighed. "We apparently quit our jobs years ago; we haven't had a steady job in years thanks to Rose."

"That's right, and we'll need money for food." Courtney groaned.

"Well we can help you guys out with the small things until you can fend for yourselves…" My father rubbed the back of his head nervously. "But as for work…"

"I can help with that." Professor Birch came over with all my friends at his side and grinned. "I recently just lost all my assistants due to the fact that they can't handle my energy. I've been forced to take out my son and his girlfriend and even Jezebel and Mattie on most occasions to make up for it. But I could really use a good set of hands of those who want to help out with pokemon."

"We'll take it!" Uncle Archie marched over and shook his hand. "Thanks, Professor."

"Call me Richard or Rich, and don't worry about it! Now, we start up tomorrow! So get some rest!"

"Oh I feel sorry for all of you…" I shook my head, but I was happy for my family. And now that all of our worries and drama were out of the way, I could get back to my dream…

Becoming champion.

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh man… what a chance of direction with this chapter! But now the entire family is off the hook for all they've done and now we can get back to action! We still have another gym badge to get!**

**So like always people, don't forget to Review and Send in Questions for me! Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	27. Final Gym Battle

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 27: Final Gym Battle_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Only a short amount of time after all charges were dropped against my uncles and aunts for being the heads of Team Magma and Team Aqua, they had moved back to Petalburg City and lived relatively close to the rest of my family, so they could all be together. My father enjoyed the nearly daily visits from my cousins while my aunts and uncles went to go and work for the professor. Life finally seemed like something I could enjoy, something I didn't want to run away from…

But then there was still the lingering pain of my mother's death that held so much guilt over my head. I had to get stronger to defeat… no… kill Rose for what's she's done, and for what she took away from my mother. Those last couple weeks she could have had… we could have learned so much about each other. I could have really known her…

But there's no going back now… I fight with myself over these ordeals every now and then. They still come to the front of my mind and I sigh from them. I can't help wondering what life would have been like if my mother had defeated the cancer a second time, if Rose had never interfered. How would she have treated me? My mother loved me; I realize that now, so much that she gave her life for me and Mattie, one of my closest friends, for whom I deeply cared. _Would she have approved of Mattie, if, say, we got togeth-_

_No, thoughts like that shouldn't cross my mind._ I sighed, as my team and I had taken up refuge in a cave in the northeast of the region called the Shoal Cave. It was one of the coldest areas in the region, other than the higher peaks of Meteor Falls on the other side of the region. It was heavily pouring down rain over this area since I decided to journey back to Sootopolis to earn my last gym badge and prepare to head off on my way to the Pokѐmon League.

The storm had sadly gotten in my way and I decided it was better to wait it out then rush through it and catch a cold. My friends were all back in Lilycove. I'd taken off ahead of them to try and get first crack at the gym leader, until this stupid storm got in my way…

"Ug… damn it…" I groaned as I looked out onto the stormy water and crashing water from the skies above. "Why'd it have to rain before I got to Sootopolis?"

"Blaze…." My pokemon sighed and sat next to me while the others were either playing or battling. It was quite boring to say the least as there was nothing to do since it was pouring outside.

"Ugg! This is so frustrating! All right, I'm getting pissed! I'm fighting too!" I took on the traits of my blaziken and raced toward the others. "Alright, let's train before I go crazy! Everyone! Hit me with everything you have! It's Blaze and me against all of you!"

My blaziken worriedly looked over at me before he sighed and nodded, jumping to his feet and joined me in the center. Pretty much all of my pokemon had the advantage over us; it would be a tough battle to say the least.

Acey was the first one to dive at me with an aerial ace attack. I leapt over her body as she dived at Blaze as well. He jumped out of her way just in time to be sent in Darkness' direction. He used his powers to stop her from crashing into him and turned her around for the next go.

Blade charged at us next. With his arms extended outward, he charged at Blaze; the two of them were in a duel all their own while I faced my other pokemon. Empyrean came flying at me and roared, her own cries crating a blasting wind and ear-piercing sound that forced me to step back while she came racing at me and slammed her tail into me. I screeched out as I hit the wall.

The world went still for my pokemon as they watched for me to get back to my feet before continuing. I rolled the rocks off of me and growled before jumping to my feet and heading right into the battle. I jumped toward Empyrean and pulled back my fire encased fist before I rammed into the side of her face. She cried out before she threw me back again with her tail. This time I was more prepared and took less damage as I was thrown into another wall.

Blaze was thrown back next to me. There were no wounds on him, but Blade seemed to have a mark on his arm where Blade's claws must have gotten him. Acey and Darkness then threw a combination attack at us, made up of shadow ball and dragonbreath. The attack was closing in fast and my eyes widened as Blaze jumped before me to take the attack. Time seemed to freeze and I looked at him in fear before I felt something _hot_ in the pit of my stomach. It burned… it was coming up, I could feel it pushing itself out of my throat.

I jumped before Blaze and I felt the heat shoot itself out of my body when I released my jaw from its tight hold. White fire burst from my mouth and went flying through the cave. All my pokemon managed to dodge it, but all looked intently worried at me. I fell to my knees and pulled my hands up before me, looking at some strange glowing marks that appeared on my skin before looking over at Blaze, noticing the same thing on him.

"What the hell…" Before I could say anything else, I fell and lost all consciousness.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Jez?" I heard a voice from off in the distance call out to me and I groaned at it. "Come on, Jez; your pokemon are worried."

That was enough incentive to wake me up. I slowly opened my eyes and the image of a little pokemon that looked to be black in color with small blue eyes under some sort of teepee shaped cloth looked down at me, along with another human face. It slowly came into view as Casey's, judging by the white hat and green headband. I groaned and slowly sat up with his help. I watched as all my pokemon looked at me worriedly as I looked around at them.

"Whoa… what happened?" I held my head as I looked around. "The last things I remember was… burning… and… white fire… markings…"

"Slow down there a minute, Jez. What are you talking about?" Casey questioned me before he pulled out his pokenav. "Hang on a second." He typed some numbers in before he held it up to his ear, making a call. I heard shouting on the other end of the line while Casey tried to calm them down. It worked, but after a good few minutes.

"Relax, you guys, I found her. She's with me and I'll get her out of here and to Sootopolis." Casey talked away with whoever was on the other end of the line, whom I assumed to be Aria. I groaned before I felt a little coolness on my forehead. The small pokemon I saw upon waking up was pulling me back down on the ground and placing its hands on my forehead to relax my brain. It felt nice. The body felt so cool, it was like an ice pack. I pulled my pokedex out of my pocket and pointed it at the pokemon before closing my eyes and listening in to what my device said about it.

_Snorunt, the ice hat pokemon. Snorunt live in regions with heavy snowfall. In seasons without snow, such as spring and summer, this pokemon steals away to live quietly among stalactites and stalagmites deep in caverns. It is said that a home visited by a snorunt will prosper. It can withstand cold of minus one-hundred and fifty degrees. Snorunt nests are few to none and are only located in the Shoal Cave within its subzero sections._

I suddenly felt my body lifted from the ground and Casey carried me in his arms to the entrance. I kept my eyes closed after the initial startle from when he lifted me.

"Just relax now, Jez. We'll have you checked out over at Sootopolis. Maybe Violet and Gwyn know something about what you're talking about."

I couldn't hear him much after that. I allowed myself to fall back asleep with my good friend carrying me.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

An hour or two later, I ended up at the pokemon center being looked over by the nurse and a local doctor that came over. From what they could see, I had fainted from exhaustion. I didn't quite know why I felt fine before that fire buildup in my stomach when I was protecting Blaze when we were training. It was something I planned to question the two champions about when I got the chance.

All of my friends were waiting with me in the room as I recovered my energy. I still had a hard time moving my body entirely on my own for some reason. Mattie tried to help me out by using healing attacks from Roza, but they only did so much for me before I ended up falling in and out of sleep for another hour.

When I finally was able to stay awake, Violet and the entire IPHP League showed up in my room. I blinked at them a few times at them before I groaned and tried to sit up. Violet was quick to stop me.

"You don't have to get up for us; we're just here to help give you a bit of energy and tell you what's going on." Violet came over to my side, Gwyn appearing on my other, Levy at my feet with the boys, and the three of them began to send me healing energy.

"What… happened to… me?"

"You discovered the ancient move of fire, a move that is only discovered through protecting someone that's in peril. By protecting your blaziken, you awakened one of his moves, called blast burn. It's the ultimate fire type move for only a select few fire types. You're feeling the aftereffects from using the move but not knowing the name; it takes a drastic toll on the pokemon or the trainer who uses it. The ones who had to deal with that pain were our pokemon, Amethyst and Cynder, compared to you this time around." Violet and the others pulled back their hands after giving me a lot more energy. "Rest for the rest of the night; you should be fine by tomorrow. Your friends are battling at the gym and getting their eighth gym badges so you all can just move on as a group after you win tomorrow."

"Thanks, Violet…"

"Don't worry about it, Jez. Will you be all right now?"

"Yeah. You don't have to stick around if you don't want to." She chuckled and tucked up the blankets around me as the members of the IPHP League stepped out of the room.

"We'll see you later then, Jez." I saw a glittering in her eyes as she turned back to look at me before she stepped out of the door. "I'll be waiting to see you battle at Ever Grande City. I want to see just how much you've grown, now that the world isn't on the line."

I blinked at her for a moment before I laughed and showed her a thumb up as she walked out the door and out of my sight.

_I couldn't wait for that too, to show her how strong I was, and maybe… battle against her myself_.

**Violet's Point of View:**

"You seem pretty happy, Violet." My little brother was quick to comment on my happy mood as we left the hospital and headed back to an open area here in the city to take off toward Ever Grande City and prepare for those kids to arrive.

"Of course she is!" Gwyn grinned as she looked over at her boyfriend. "Violet's excited to battle her in the future when she becomes champion. Isn't that right?"

"It normally is." Alex sighed as he pulled me into his arms. "I still remember how excited you were just to battle Gwyn-"

"But that battle they had was beyond words!" Vince was quick to shout out and jump next to me and throw an arm over my shoulder, knocking me into Alex and him. "I could feel the power just flowing out of their bodies and their pokemon before the battle even began! Then when it started-"

"With each clash of attacks, I felt my heart leap and sink all at the same time!" Aaron continued on for him. "I felt like every fiber of my being was electrified!"

"It was one of the greatest battles ever!" The two of them then shouted at the same time, and I couldn't help but grin.

"And now you're excited for the next big battle, Violet?" Levy questioned me from where she sat on Aaron's shoulders.

I laughed and everyone stopped as I had my moment. "Oh yes, that battle is one I'm looking forward to. Jezebel is a fruit that's just about ready to ripen, and when it does, I'll be there," I clenched my fist out before me, "ready to snatch it."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

When the next morning came, I felt re-energized and ready to face the new day. I sat up from the bed I was in and jumped to my feet, having more than enough energy for the day to battle the last gym leader of the Hoenn region. From what I'd heard, his name was Juan Vivianna. He was a water-type gym leader, and I had already planned to use Silky today, and then if necessary, after her, I would use Empyrean, for this would be her first gym battle.

I let out Silky from her pokeball and she jumped at me as soon as she saw my face. She cried in my arms and I brushed back the fuzz on top of her head.

"I'm sorry for worrying you and the others, Silky; my bad."

"Beau!" My beautifly swatted me on the back of my head before she set herself there. I sighed and grabbed my bag and two cases.

"Why don't we go down and get some breakfast? I'll let everyone out and they can get everything off their chest about yesterday, or two days ago… what day is today?" I blinked; I honestly didn't know what day it was or how long I'd been in the pokemon center since I fell unconscious from that new attack, "blast burn."

"Beau…" Silky tapped the side of her head and flapped her wings for a moment before she leaned over my face and looked at me. "Beau beautifly!"

"It's only been a couple days? Well, that's good to hear. I know Violet said something about the others getting their last gym badge yesterday… I think… Ugg! I'm so lost about what day was what and what took place on each of them!"

"Beau…" Silky tapped the front part of my head.

I sighed. "You're right; I need to forget about that. It's unnecessary. Let's get going! I'm hungry, and we have an eighth gym badge to win, and you and Empyrean are the stars of the battle!"

"Beautifly!" She fluttered up into the air and flew around me before I took off out of the room with her flying after me. I rushed down the stairs and into the dining room in order to see Nurse Joy and some staff members of hers rushing outside with trays of food.

"Ah! Good morning Jezebel! Excuse me!" Nurse Joy nodded to me for a moment before the woman took off with the food. I blinked at her before following behind and watched as it opened up to a massive room with my three friends all eating along with their pokemon, the massive legendary beats eating everything right up. I blinked in surprise and shook my head.

"Wow…"

"Jezebel! You're up!" Aria rushed over to me, ducking under a pan that was heading in the direction of Groudon, before she hugged me. "Glad to see you awake!"

"Why is there so much food? Why don't you guys just give the beasts a few purple expansion pokeblocks?" I blinked up at the scene. Mattie and I had made pokeblocks back when we were in Lilycove to improve the stats of our pokemon and had given them some extra nutrition that not all food could give them. Upon testing different types, Mattie and I came across some that were extremely compact and actually contained enough content to fill up a larger pokemon's stomach with nearly twenty meals. They were created, Mattie and I found out after we did some research, for snorlaxes, who actually needed a good few of them to make up for the eight-hundred and eighty meals that they need over the course of a month.

"Mattie ran out, and both Groudon and Kyogre, which Mattie nicknamed Poseidon, are both really massive in size and need a lot of food." Aria groaned and shrugged. "And we weren't about to see if you had any or take them. That just seemed wrong without asking, and you were totally out of it!"

"Well I've got some and can solve this problem really quick before we all blow out our savings." I reached into my backpack and pulled out my pokeblock case and pulled out a couple of dark-colored pokeblocks and whistled up to the massive pokemon. "Eat up!"

I threw them up in the air toward the areas where their mouths were. In a single bite, the two beasts swallowed up the food, and upon it reaching their stomachs, I heard an expanding sound inside their bodies before the sac of skin that digested their food expanded and the two of them fell over full. I let out all of my pokemon and they were quick to grab their own food while I handed a few blocks to Empyrean.

"Here you go girl; this will fill you up more than full." I only handed her two blocks to make sure that she wasn't overstuffed for the battle today. She ate them quickly and I watched her swallow before the same thing happened to her and she sighed in content with a full belly and lay out on the ground. When she was done, I turned to my friends and grabbed my own plate of food. "So what was the gym leader like? Was he a hard battle?"

"We ended up using our grass-type pokemon to take him out for the most part." Casey threw a piece of food in his mouth before he pushed his plate away from himself at the table and turned to talk to me. "I ended up using Ludicolo for the most part, but when I got down to the gym leader's last pokemon, a kingdra, I had to switch to Swampert to take it down. It's a water and dragon type, which made it really hard."

"Yeah… Aria and I had to do similar things like that…" Mattie stuttered slightly as he took a bite of the sandwich he was eating. "I-I had to use Roza for the most part, and I was surprised to see her grab some stone we found on the way to the gym and she evolved into a roserade. I then had to use Corra and Kaida after her for that dragon pokemon."

"And I had to use Sceptile and Bagon, who evolved into a Shelgon!"

I blinked and quickly pulled out my pokedex to look over at some of the new pokemon we had sitting around. I first pointed it at our three legendary beasts. _Kyogre, the sea basin pokemon. This pokemon is said to have expanded the seas by bringing heavy rain. It has the power to control water. This pokemon saved people who were suffering from droughts. There is only one of its kind and its nest is unknown._

_Groudon, the continent pokemon. Groudon has the power to scatter rain clouds and make water evaporate with light and heat. It came as a savior to people who had been suffering terrible floods. It sleeps in magma underground and it is said to make volcanoes erupt upon awakening. There is only one of its kind and its nest is unknown._

_Rayquaza, the sky high pokemon. Rayquaza lived for hundreds of millions of years in the earth's ozone layer, never descending to the ground. This pokemon appears to feed on water and particles in the atmosphere. Its existence had been completely unknown because it lived so high in the sky. It is said it would descend to the ground if Kyogre and Groudon were to fight. There is only one of its kind and its nest is unknown._

I took my pokedex and pointed it over in the direction of the new evolutions of Mattie's pokemon. I saw that Roza had drastically changed from her roselia form. The roses on her hands had turned into bouquets, the left blue and the right red. The thorns on her head had opened up and white hair appeared over the top of her head. Her skin was still made of thick leaves and appeared to be a light green with a mask-like leaf over her eyes, which were golden in color with red pupils. A small cape of leaves carried behind her.

_No data_.

I groaned; this pokemon was another one that I was unable to get any information on since it wasn't from this region.

"V-violet knew that we wouldn't get to see her information… so she wrote it down for us…" Mattie handed me a paper that gave the information she had on Mattie's pokemon.

_Roserade, the bouquet pokemon and the evolved form of roselia with a shiny stone. It attacks prey with a sweet aroma, then downs it with thorny whips hidden in its arms. Each of its hands contains different toxins, but both hands can jab with near-fatal power. There are no known roserade nests in this region._

I then turned my pokedex to the last pokemon I didn't have information on. Aria's little, blue pokemon with a rock hard head had taken on a round, white, hard-shelled look; a small opening was at the front to show its eyes, and short stubby legs were below the hard shell. The legs looked like a grey blue color with some orangey red spots on them, similar to the color her bagon's body had been prior to evolution, other than the grey color.

_Shelgon, the endurance pokemon and the evolved form of bagon. Inside shelgon's armor-like shell, cells are in the midst of transformation to create an entirely new body. This pokemon's shell is extremely heavy, making its movements sluggish. It hardly eats while it awaits evolution. It becomes hardier by enduring hunger. Its shell peels off the instant it begins to evolve. There are no known shelgon nests in this region._

With the information happily added to the pokedex, I stashed it away, along with the paper that Violet had given Mattie with the information on Roza's final evolution. It still bothered me slightly that the woman was always a bit ahead of me when it came to this, since she could look up the information of any pokemon that she's seen at will. I mean, I couldn't do anything about the fact that she's been out in the world for nearly four long years more than I have, but it still bothered me just because I wanted to be able to do the same thing for myself at some point. I'd like to have the information on Darkness' and Blade's final forms, and I'm sure Mattie would too when it came to Roza.

"Well… there's no reason to worry about that…" I stood up from my seat once I had eaten my food and turned to my pokemon. "You guys ready to get going? We have a gym battle to win!"

My team cried out and my four pokemon that weren't battling returned themselves. Once they were gone, Empyrean looked me in the eye before she returned herself as well. She was excited; she wanted to battle. I felt Silky land on my head and I looked up at her.

"I guess I'll have to pull you out at some point; Empyrean looks pretty hyped up."

"Beau!" Silky cried out and I petted her head before I hurried for the door.

"Good luck, Jez!" Aria waved at me.

"Beat that gym leader so we can keep moving on to the Pokѐmon League!" Casey grinned and waved as well.

"Y-you can do it, Jez!" Mattie waved both of his arms and grinned at me.

"Thanks, you guys!" I chuckled back at them as I walked out. "See you guys later!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was only a short time later of a few minutes before I ended up at the gym in the city. It was on an island in the middle of the lake of the city. I was shocked to see that only minimal damage had come to the gym when the battle between Kyogre and Groudon had happened.

Walking through the front door of the building, I saw that the battlefield was made of ice and water. Platforms of ice floated in the water and I was shocked to see that the ice was on the walls too. It was quite cold in here.

"Greetings, my dear; I'm more than pleased to see that you have arrived to battle us! We are honored by the great savior of Hoenn!" I blinked at the person across the field. A man appeared, a wild haircut of short black and grey hair with two tufts of white standing before his face. Blue eyes looked at me, which matched the trench-like coat over his shoulders. A black shirt seemed to be under it with purple pants over his legs and black boots. A fluffy white scarf was wrapped around his neck with a blue stone attached in the middle of it at the base of his neck. He bowed to me.

"Savior of Hoenn?" I blinked. "Since when did I get that title?"

"Since you saved Hoenn from the disaster of the legendary beasts." He looked up from his bowed posture. "Are you not Jezebel Emery-Twain?"

"No, I am she." I rubbed the back of my head. "I just wasn't expecting this…"

"My dear, this is what becomes of those who stand up to evil." The man stood up and smiled. "I am Juan, and I am your final opponent before you face your greatest challenges yet, besides that of saving our home region, of course." He pulled out a pokeball and threw it out. A large fish pokemon came out and it looked longer then it was tall. A dark blue color was on its body with a 'w' on its forehead and a light golden underbelly, and matching colored whiskers on the sides of its face. Its fins and the outline of its mouth were a light blue. It was a whiscash. They were tough opponents due to the fact that they were a ground and water type, but only to those that weren't able to fly or that did not know grass-type moves.

"Well, if that's your first Pokemon, let's get going then, Silky!" My beautifuly jumped off my head and carried herself gently on the wind as she floated over the battlefield on the wind.

"Quite eager, aren't you?" Juan smirked as he looked out to our battlefield. The wishcash smiled dumbly up at Silky and she huffed at it. "Then let us start out! I think changing things up a bit from our normal ways would be fine, especially against a skilled trainer such as yourself! Whiscash! Start us off with mud bomb!" From the pokemon's mouth I watched as large balls of mud were spat at my pokemon. Silky easily dived and moved away from them as they were shot and she got closer to the pokemon.

I smirked at that. "It's gonna take a lot more then mud to stop us! Silky, dive in!" My pokemon did so and got closer to the source of the flying mud just flew over the back of it. "Grab on and use mega drain!"

My pokemon dived in and grabbed the pokemon by its whiskers. It cried out from being grabbed in such a sensitive spot before Silky used one of her grass type attacks on him. The pokemon cried out in pain while its energy was sucked out by Silky's attack. Juan looked on, shocked at the display of his whiscash's energy turning green and flying in the air before being absorbed into Silky's body.

"Whiscash!" Juan cried out. "Don't let all your energy be taken! Throw that pokemon off and use water pulse!"

The larger pokemon cried out before it angrily looked over at Silky and suddenly pulled back and dived under the water, pulling her down with it. From above the water, all I could see was the green glow of the attack that Silky was still using. When the glow stopped, I watched in worry. Nothing was happening, at least, not that I could see. The battle was taking place under the surface out of my line of sight.

I gasped when I suddenly saw swirling water appear in the middle of the field. A shadow soon appeared and Silky shot out of the water with a blast of water and bubbles attacking her. The whiscash appeared in the middle of the water before it sat on the top of the water and watched Silky tiredly. Before it threw her off of it, it had lost most of its energy to her, and she was more than stocked when she was hit. Silky didn't look too bad off when the attack died. She jumped right back up and into the air before she cried out with much more energy to spare.

I could hear Juan growling on the other side of the field. He was frustrated that his pokemon was already down so much energy, and we'd only used one attack. I could only grin at him.

"You're very skilled… you crafted that perfectly to make sure that if your pokemon was hit, it would be hardly harmed because of the energy it stole." Juan put a hand to his chin before he threw out his hand. "Whiscash! Under the water!"

I watched as the pokemon dived and I cursed. _With that damn pokemon under the water, it would be impossible to attack it… We'd have to wait for it to come back up… and that may be a while…_

"You won't wait long, my dear!" I looked over to Juan as he grinned. "Let's play, Whiscash! Use your tail to play with it!"

I suddenly saw the whiscash appear out of the water behind Silky and smacked her out of the air and into the water. I cried out when I heard the crashing sound when she hit the water. She ended up under there with the whiscash before the pokemon continued to hit my beautifly in the water and throw her about. I couldn't hear her cries, but I could feel them, with every hit that she obtained. From the connection we shared through me being a changeling… I could feel the hits to her body, and her wings weakening from all the water…

"Silky! Use sunny day!" My pokemon leapt out of the water and her body lit up before she shot out a ball of sun above the battle field. I could feel the intense heat from here as she situated herself below the sun to dry off. "Now use morning sun!"

From the sun that she had just created, she sucked out some of the energy to heal her wounds and dry out her wings.

"All you're doing is preventing the inevitable for your pokemon!" Juan shouted at me. "Whiscash-"

"Not this time!" I growled and sent my hand flying before me. "Use giga drain!"

Silky slammed her body into the whiscash to quickly absorb the remaining energy of the water and ground type. I watched as its eyes rolled into the back of its head before it settled down in the water and Juan watched in shock that his pokemon had gone down.

Juan returned his pokemon, after taking a moment to breathe. He pulled out another pokeball and out from it came a crawdaunt, it was a massive red crab pokemon that had two pincers and a large star on the top of its head. It glared up at my pokemon and mine glared down at it too.

"Now we won't let you do what you did last time, Jezebel!" Juan smirked. "Now Crawdaunt-"

"Well if you're not going to be a gentleman about it, I'll just have to get rough!" I grinned as I cut him off. "Silky! Use solarbeam!"

"Beau!" A large ball of green energy appeared before her and grew more massive due to the large ball of sunlight that was over her head. It expanded to nearly the size of Empyrean before she unleashed the attack and it hit the entire field. Juan jumped back from the attack and green light over took the field, blinding us all. When the light died, most of the water seemed to have vanished from the field; most of the ice in the water and on the walls were gone too. Small vines of green had grown in the middle of the field and tangled in some of them was the crawdaunt. It was knocked out in one hit.

"Impossible…" Juan was stunned as he looked out at his pokemon.

"Nice job, Silky!" I cheered and my pokemon flew back to me. "Time for a break!"

My beautifly landed on my head and breathed heavily, but she grinned at me anyway. I pulled out Empyrean's pokeball and grinned. "Now let's finish this up! Let's go, Empyrean!"

"Yes, and let's face them, Walrein!"

The drastic difference between our two pokemon was quite laughable. I watched as the considerably smaller walrein looked up as my pokemon continued to grow as she came out of her pokeball. Their eyes widened as they watched the large legendary beast of the sky appear from her pokeball and before them in battle. I saw their jaws drop, and the walrein sank a bit more into the water. I couldn't help but laugh.

"All right, Empyrean; let's start this off! Use thunder!" My dragon cried out and her body turned white from the electricity circling around her before she let it loose in the water and at the walrein. It cried out as its body was electrocuted and it sank into the water entirely.

Empyrean cut off her attack and I saw the body of the pokemon slowly rise to the top, only to be on its side and knocked out. Juan took an involuntary step back in shock. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Nice job, girl!" I pumped my fist. I looked over at the other side of the field and watched as Juan was still frozen. "Come on, Juan! You got one last Pokemon, don't you?"

Juan shook himself out of his daze and nodded to me. He returned his walrein before he pulled out a last pokeball and threw it out. "Let's go, Kingdra!"

The beast I'd been waiting for finally appeared before me. Mostly looking like a great sea horse pokemon, it was large and bright blue in size. The water-and dragon-type arrived, and its only weakness was dragon-type moves.

"I realize now that I will not be able to beat you my dear. Your beautifly, maybe, I would have been able to beat if it was left out, but your legendary beast? I could never defeat her, even with my entire team. But I will hold out to the best of my abilities and with all my strength!" He threw out his arm, his cape like coat carrying on the wind with the motion. "Start out with dragon rage Kingdra!"

The beast pulled back let loose a large blast from its mouth of multiple dark colors. It was quick. It struck Empyrean before I could even make a move. A cloud of smoke appeared where the attack met my pokemon, and I silently watched and waited to see how this attack would have affected her.

The smoke slowly disappeared from around her and Empyrean looked to be pretty well unharmed. She looked rather pissed, however. I raised my eyebrow as she cried out, which sent waves and echoes through the walls and the ground. Both the kingdra and Juan took a step back.

"Why don't we show them a real dragon rage attack, Empyrean?" My beast laughed lightly before she gathered the same type of energy before her. Once it was large enough for her liking, she released it into a powerful beam that pushed the pokemon well beneath the waters below. "All right, girl; let up."

My pokemon halted her attack and we watched from the surface as the pokemon's shadow and body were both not seen. We waited a few moments before we saw bubbles coming from below. They started out as a slow amount, before they rapidly increased, and large amounts of them were coming up.

_Maybe this pokemon would be a challenge after all… wait…_

We watched as a shadow came to the surface before the side of the kingdra came above the water, and it was knocked out cold. I sighed. _I guess the battle wasn't going to be as fulfilling as I'd hoped, but there was always the Pokѐmon League, and I knew that they had strong trainers for me to face with my team._

"Utterly beaten by such a devastating display. I was not expecting this horrible outcome for my team, but you were a brilliant battler today, Jezebel. I was ultimately defeated by you and your pokemon." Empyrean came back over to me and wrapped her body around mine, but allowed space for Juan to enter as well. "I'm sorry I wasn't more of a challenge to you. It must be from all the harsh battling you've faced against the legendary beasts, along with Team Aqua and Team Magma."

I nodded to him. It was a highly likely outcome, since I'd been working against them for weeks. It would also explain the easy battle I had with Liza and Tate.

"But alas, I still lost, and it is my job, then, to present you with my badge, the rain badge." He held out his hand and showed me a badge that was made up of three small droplets of water. I smiled and took the badge from his hand and showed it up to Empyrean and Silky.

"This is it, girls, our last gym badge. Now we can go to the Pokѐmon League and really test our strength!"

The rest of my pokemon all released themselves from their pokeballs and grinned at me.

"Blaze!"

"Gall!"

"Beau!"

"Gra!"

"Dusk!"

"Rhuu!"

"Thanks for the badge, Juan!" I grinned at him and returned all my pokemon but Silky. "Now let's go meet up with the others and start heading over to Ever Grande City and the Pokѐmon League!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was only a short while later when I ran into my friends and we headed out on our pokemon to Ever Grande City. We still had another couple obstacles ahead of us, and that included the Victory Road, a cave that all challengers have to face and make it through before they can battle the Pokѐmon League. 

**Witch's Note:**

**All right! I finally got this chapter done and now we can move on to the more exciting parts of the story! Going to the Pokѐmon League! Are we all excited for this? Jez and the others are going to battle! Who's ready to go?**

**Anyway, thank you all for reading so far and I'm pleased to inform you that we only have ten chapters left after this one! Not to mention our Q's &amp; A's chapter! But time is getting short! Please send in your reviews and questions soon or they won't be put down on the page!**

**Love you all and see you next week with a nice chapter in the Victory Road!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	28. We're All Strong

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 28: We're All Strong_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It didn't take us more than a single day to cross the seas on our pokemon at a calming pace in order to make it to Evergrande City, or at least the area before the city, the entrance to the Pokѐmon League. The Victory Road was what we were all looking at once we arrived there, just over a waterfall that met up with the ocean below. We took our time taking in the sights before we made our way into the building before the entrance to the Victory Road.

Once we entered, we saw many other trainers that were preparing for the challenge before them. A pokemon center was inside here to heal pokemon and served as a place for all to stay a night or two here as well. We were all pretty well-rested, so we passed on the resting for a night and decided to just move on to take the challenge. I saw many people looking at us as we passed through, or more likely, they were looking at me. Casey and Aria were fine under their gazes; Mattie was a bit more nervous. I saw him look back and forth on either side of us nervously at all of them. I rolled my eyes at their looks and reached back and took Mattie's hand in my own, startling my friend, and brought him up to my side.

"Ignore them, Mattie; they're intimidated by us because of all we've done and how strong we are." I sighed and looked him in the eye. "It's gonna be crazy once we get inside that cave. I hope you're ready for that."

"I-I am Jez… just… a bit nervous is… all…"

"Matt! We got nothing to be nervous about!" Casey clamped one of his hands on Mattie's shoulder. "We're gonna make it through this place with no problems and get you two ready for the Pokѐmon League!"

"Wait." I halted in my step and looked back and him and Aria. "You two aren't competing?"

Casey shook his head and took hold of Aria's hand. "Naw, Aria's and my dreams are different from the ones you two have. We don't want to be the strongest; we have other dreams that we want to accomplish, but being trainers and training pokemon helped us along the way. So we're going to go through the Victory Road with you two while you train and watch you two compete at the Pokѐmon League."

"Yeah, and I'm doing a write-up here!" Aria grinned as she held up her bag. "I've been working on some pieces for a little while now, and my boss has been really happy with the work I've been putting out with our battles and the trials of your family and the final battle in Sootopolis. I can't wait to do a write-up for the two of you!"

I was a little disappointed at that. I was hoping we'd all battle, but I could understand that the two of them didn't want to be involved in that stuff. Their dreams were different than mine and Mattie's.

"Well, at least we'll get through the Victory Road together." I grinned and turned my head away from them to continue walking forward. "And we've got a long road ahead of us, so let's get going."

"Coming, Jez!" The others sped after me toward the exit of the pokemon center that led out to the entrance of the Victory Road. At the entrance of the cave, there were two men on either side that were checking the badges of all the people that came through. My friends and I handed over our badges to them and the two men quickly sent us on through to the inside of the cave with no hassle at all, only wishing us good luck and may the best trainer win.

Inside the cave I saw a multitude of tunnels that led in multiple directions. None of them seemed to be a clear shot to the end, nor did we know exactly where on the other side of the mountain the exit was that led to the city and the entrance to the Pokѐmon League. The tunnels seemed to go as far down as a hundred feet or so, but the same could be said about the stone paths I could see above us.

So basically, we had to choose a path and go with it, right? I had a particular path to the right up ahead that looked promising. I turned back to my friends.

"So how do we want to do this? Anyone got a path they want to follow? Or is there another option?"

"Well, we could always fly, but that would defeat the purpose of you and Mattie training before you actually made it to the end." Casey shrugged as he took Aria's hand in his own. "You pick, Jez. We'll follow like we always do; we trust you."

"And even if we manage to get into some trouble, we'll make it out, just like we always do!" Aria grinned as she looked at me. "We all believe in you Jez; we always have, ever since the day we met you."

"She's right…" Mattie hesitantly spoke out. "Always."

I smirked at them, glad to have such good friends around when I really needed them. It made my mind really wonder back to the time when I had no one, how my life was so boarded up. I was numb, trapped inside with no feeling inside my body. My mind-controlled mother kept me isolated and distanced from all those around me. People in the past had tried to get to know me before, but it was this set of three that shoved themselves into my life that really changed me, and for the better.

Casey: my first real friend, and the guy I can always go to when I've got a question on a pokemon, or if I'm having some trouble with the pokedex and he can fix it really quick for me. He was the one who helped me escape the house of my controlled mother and pushed me out into the world, finally free to gather the scattered pieces of my heart that I'd left with all of my pokemon. He was one of the ones to help me gather those pieces; he was also the one to push my heart out into the open and really expose it to others, rather than leaving me to sporadically lash out when I had to go on the defensive. He was also the one who taught me how to battle, and even in that practice one, I one-up'd him there. Striving to be a pokemon professor like his father, he crams his head daily with facts and things about pokemon, about their types, their habitats they love to live in and whatnot. I'm shocked he even had the time for me.

Aria: she was my go-to girl, my best girl-friend and one of the people who really understood me. She was more like a little sister to me, always looking out for me and trying to keep me out some of the worse trouble (because we all knew that Aria wasn't about to run away from any trouble that she faced) that we could have gotten into. That girl went along with pretty much anything I said (not that all the others didn't do that already) but she was the only girl I could really call my closest friend. She helped me learn how to express myself and not be afraid to hold back. I mean, she never did. She was striving to be the best reporter in the world and planned to use me as her way to get up there. I had no problems with that; our lives were pretty chaotic and I loved that she got to express it out to the world. But only Aria could be my reporter; I don't care for others. They tend to make light of what we've done or strive for all the bad things we've done or that's happened to us to put in the papers. I've never battled her, but I would love to… not to mention, I think she'd get a top review for writing about the battle she and I had.

And then there was Mattie. One of the closest friends I had, even more so than Aria and Casey. He meant so much to me, and it's taken me a long time to come to my feelings for him, to realize that I like him more than just as a friend. I… I'd avoided admitting anything for the longest of time. I should have said it. I shouldn't have hidden it, but for the longest of time, I'd loved Mattie. And I did, even to the present moment. He's the one who kept me in high spirits, who helped me if I was feeling down; he was there for me when I needed someone to lean on. Mattie was like… the other half to me… He was the one I needed all this time, and the one I could never let go of if I tried. I can't remember the last time he and I had been separated for longer than a day or so, and that was probably all the way back… Christmas… before and after Christmas we didn't see each other for weeks. I could handle the separation, but I didn't like the fact that I had to be away from him.

As much as I cared about him though, he was one of the people who gave me the best battles of my life. I was looking forward to battling him again and seeing who was the stronger of the two of us. Mattie brought me one of the most exciting and thrilling battles in my life. The last time I'd faced off against him was in Mauville City. It was so thrilling… the battle that still sours me over since Luna still had a one up on Blade. I'd have to let him repay her when the time came.

And it wouldn't be long now…

"So, Jez, which way do you want to go?" Casey questioned me.

"Let's take that path." I pointed out the one that I'd looked at and thought was good before. "You guys ready to go?"

"Ready and waiting, Jez!" Aria grinned at me.

I smiled at her. "Then let's go!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Let's go Blaze! Blade!" I grinned as we faced off against another trainer down below here. Our path had taken us in many different directions as we tried to find the exit on the other side of the mountain, and we'd met many different trainers along the way. It was amazing to train against them all. They were just so strong! Just like fighting a gym leader! But that was because all of them had beaten all the gym leaders. Battling these guys gave me a good rush; not as much as much as some of my friends did, or the massive amounts of adrenaline I'd feel when walking in the presence of the IPHP League's leaders and champions. Of course I'd love to battle them as well, but even I wasn't dumb enough to go out and challenge them yet. I still needed to get stronger, but I've seen the looks that Violet's given me. She wants to battle… I can feel the hunger rolling right off her body and soul for a battle with me and her team.

And hopefully, one day I will be able to battle her. It's a battle that will leave me so full, and yet, so starved for more. I just know it…

"Now, you two, combo time! Blaze! Use fire and dynamic punch! Blade, you use ice and thunder punch!" My two pokemon raced across the field of the Victory Road and bombarded the trainer that I'd recently come into contact with for a battle. He was left helpless against my strongest pokemon combination I had on my team against his own. His other four pokemon had flown by; now his last two were being taken down with ease.

I could hear cheering from the side. Aria and Casey had been cheering us on for a while, and by 'us', I mean Mattie and myself. He was also battling, just a few feet or so away from me and I could feel the pressure he was giving off as he battled. It was an incredible feeling, everything just felt… beyond words as the time flew by with us both battling. I could feel his battle from over here, and I knew he could feel my battle from over there.

"Finish them!" Mattie and I cried out at the same time and we watched as both sets of our pokemon knocked out the pokemon on the other side of the field together, even on separate battlegrounds.

"Yahoo!" I grinned and jumped into my pokemon's areas while the other battlers left the prize money and took off. I grinned over at Mattie and watched as he grinned back at me.

"Nice job, Jezebel!" I laughed.

"Thanks, Mattie. Ready to keep moving?"

"You know, I've been staring up ahead for the last few minutes and I think I see some light up ahead!" Aria cried out and we all took off to where she was pointing. I could see it too- the light she was talking about. And this light wasn't a light from a fire to light our way; it was daylight.

I grinned as we made our way around the corner and looked to see the doorway that led outside. I could see the flower pathway that led trainers into the city that was just built around the Pokѐmon League, shaped like a castle.

"We finally made it!" I grinned and grabbed Mattie's hand. "Let's go, then!"

"Hold on, Jez!" I halted in my step when I turned back to see Aria nervously twirling her fingers. "I need to do something before we leave this cave."

I blinked at her. "And what's that, Aria?"

"You see… I've been scared of battling you ever since I met you. You were my hero, but at the same time, with how well you dominated the battlefield, I was afraid to lose…" She slowly wrapped her arms around herself. "I still am… I didn't want to take the chance to see if it would happen. But things have changed now, with all we had to fight for and what was on the line, all the times we won and lost… while I still am afraid to feel your power full on, I feel I need to do this not only to make you stronger, but myself, and help me get over this ridiculous fear."

"Would it help if I fought by your side?" Aria looked up to see her boyfriend and he took one of her hands. "You're not alone here; you're among your friends."

"Why don't we all fight, then? We'll all help you get over your fear, Aria. Sound okay, Mattie?" I turned back to my green-haired friend, for whom I had fallen, and he nodded.

"This way all of us will be helping you, Aria." Out of Mattie's pokeball came Guardian. Out of my own came Blade, our ultimate fighting pair.

"I can't promise you that I'll hold back, Aria," I warned her.

"I know." Out came Sceptile and from Casey's side was Swampert. "I don't want you to, or else this fear and desire won't come out full force."

I nodded to her before I turned to Mattie. He nodded back at me, ready.

"Blade! Start out with fire punch!" My fighting and psychic type rushed forward and started to throw fire coated fists at her grass type pokemon. Sceptile screeched out as he was thrown back into the wall with burns on its face and body. Both of my friends were stunned as they turned to look while Mattie and I only observed and thought of what moves to work next. I looked over at my partner and he nodded to me, throwing out his arm before him, pointing at Swampert.

"You should be worried more about your own pokemon Casey!" Mattie's cry got Casey to turn back in time to see Guardian powering herself up for an attack with her body glittering brightly and Blade shielding his eyes. Both of the other trainers shielded their eyes while their pokemon squinted at the attack. "Now Guardian! Use dazzling gleam!" The small microscopic sparkles that were scattered on her body lifted and I watched as they suddenly flashed before flying in the direction of the other side of the field. Swampert took most of the damage as he shielded Sceptile. Casey cried out for his pokemon and I watched Aria nearly sobbing on the other side of the field.

I placed a hand on Mattie's shoulder, signaling him to wait, and Guardian stopped her attack. "Aria, are you okay?"

Both of the male parties looked over to where the girl was across from me on the field. She seemed so scared out of her mind. Her eyes were so wide; I thought they were only hanging on by a thread to stay inside her head. One hand of hers was bunched up in her scarlet locks of hair; the other had a thick grip on her shoulder. I could even see her shaking from the other side of the field.

"Do you want to stop?"

"NO!" I was more shocked she was able to produce a reply, let alone one so loud. "Don't you dare stop! I need this, Jez!" She shook her head and slowly pulled her arms away from herself. "I need to face this overwhelming loss…"

"Overwhelming, huh?" I saw the boys worriedly looking over at her while I looked back at Blade. He nodded to me; he was ready at any time. "Well, if the girl wants overwhelming, then let's give it to her. Return, Blade." My pokemon nodded and jumped back to my side of the field. "Mattie, call back Guardian."

"Wha-" Mattie looked at me with a shocked face as I made my way over to the middle of the battlefield.

"She wants overwhelming, and I need to deliver, to help her realize that a loss isn't going to change anything between us, or that she has anything to fear from losing." I glanced back at Mattie before turning away. "Right?"

It took Mattie a few moments before I saw him return Guardian. "Do what you think is right, Jezebel. I'll be behind whatever decision you make."

"Thank you, Mattie." Aria nervously watched me as I stared the girl in the eye. "And here, to you, Aria, my best friend, I'll give you what you wished for, an overwhelming defeat." I released Blaze from his pokeball and he stood before me. The attack of choice was already playing out in my mind and the glowing marks appeared on Blaze's body. "Now Blaze, use blast burn!"

"Blaze!" From his mouth exploded a white fire the expanded once it hit the air and raced to the other side of the field. I heard screaming from the other side and I cried out to Blaze to stop the attack while I rushed to see if they were okay. Beyond the flames, I found Aria in Casey's protective arms. Both of their pokemon were wiped out; I could see their bodies on the ground with x's over their eyes.

Casey sighed. "Sorry about that, Jez."

"Don't worry about it. Is Aria going to be all right, though?" I looked over at my best friend that was in his arms. She was knocked out cold.

"I'm sure she will. Aria always comes back from everything stronger." He shifted her in his arms before returning both of their pokemon. "I'm sure she'll be up in a bit. Why don't we get everyone healed up and over to the pokemon center? She can rest there and we can check this place out while you two get ready for the Pokѐmon League tomorrow?"

"I guess so. I could use some food, and I'm sure we could pick up something for Aria." I looked back at my pokemon and nodded to him. "Thanks, Blaze; sorry about that."

He merely shrugged before he returned himself to his pokeball. I next turned to Mattie and he gave me a soft smile.

"Shall we, Jezebel?"

I grinned at him. "We shall!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A while after that, we left Aria in the pokemon center to rest while the three of us were out and about in the city of Evergrande. It was a large festive city that was centered on high-end shops, games, rides, restaurants, beaches and vacation spots for those to vacation as well as to visit the Pokѐmon League and watch trainers compete daily. The Pokѐmon League was the very heart of the city, being a large castle. It was large enough for the five different rooms for the Elite Four and their champion, as well as private quarters for them and other relaxation rooms for them all.

In the time that we'd left Aria, we'd gathered some food for us all and relaxed around, enjoying a few rides and games in the city, while also gathering information on the Elite Four and the champion. The first of them was a man named Sydney Ebony, and like his name implied, he was a user of dark-type Pokemon. The second of them was Phoebe Ohanzee, who was a ghost-type user. The third of them was named Glacia Ursa, an ice-type user, and then the last of the Elite Four was named Drake Hydra, a dragon-type user. The champion himself was named Wallace Orabelle, who was a water type user. All of them would be a challenge, but that's exactly what I wanted.

I was eating with the boys and all our pokemon and enjoying the rest of this nice day in the courtyard after grabbing some good food to eat. Suddenly my pokenav went off and I turned my head to it. Pulling it off the side of my belt, I looked to see who the ID was. I saw it was Violet.

I picked up the call. "What's up, Vi?"

"_Seems like you're doing well, and from the crowd I'm hearing on the other side of the line, I'm assuming you've made it to Evergrande City._"

"Then you would be assuming correctly."

"_Good._" The woman paused for a moment before I heard her chuckle. "_So can I also assume you and your friends will be competing tomorrow for the title?_"

"Only Mattie and me, but yes, tomorrow we'll be competing for the championship title."

"_I knew you could do it, Hon._" I could imagine the shit-eating grin on her side of the line. "_We'll be watching you two tomorrow, so show us an amazing set of battles._"

I snorted. "Was there any doubt?"

"_None at all, my dear._" I could practically envision her shaking her head. "_I'll leave you for now so you can prepare for tomorrow, but we'll meet up with you guys and the others before you and Mattie get started on your challenges. We'll be wishing you luck and gathering your family and friends to watch you!_"

"Thanks, Violet; I'll see you and the others tomorrow." I heard a clicking sound on the other end and hung up myself. Mattie and Casey looked over at me and blinked.

"Was that Violet?" Casey questioned with a mouth full of food.

I rolled my eyes at him and motioned for him to chew and swallow. "Yes, Casey, that was Violet. She was just checking that we'd made it to the city and that we're getting ready for out battles tomorrow."

"I-I assume she'll be watching?" Mattie questioned.

"That she will be." I grinned. "And I can't wait to show her how much we've grown. Right, Mattie?"

"Right!" he grinned.

"So I guess we should head back so you two can get enough rest and we can check on Aria. I can always bring her back out while the two of you are resting." Casey shrugged as he finished his drink.

"That's probably a good idea; it is starting to get a bit late…" I looked to the time on my pokenav and noticed it was coming in on eight at night, but the sun still hadn't set yet. It cast a beautiful glow over everything. I got up from my seat. "Let's head back, then, you guys."

"Comin' Jez!" The two of them were taking care of their trash before returning their pokemon and we hurried back to the pokemon center, right outside of the castle of the Pokѐmon League.

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright, so now we made it through another chapter, but what the hell was wrong with Aria? She was so strange, afraid to battle Jez! Do you think she gave the real reason, or not? Well, maybe we'll find out next time when we see the next chapter! And now we get to battle the Pokѐmon League and see who comes out on top! Do you think Jez will, or will she fall to their feet? See you next time to find out!**

**Don't forget to send in Reviews and Questions to me to let me know what you think and what you're curious about! I love you all and see you next week!**

**Halloween Witch**


	29. Hoenn's New Champion

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 29: Hoenn's New Champion_

**Jezebel's Point of View:  
**

When I woke the next morning, I was shocked to see that my best friend Aria was the only one not in bed. The boys still slept soundly as I got up and grabbed all my gear before racing out to find her. Aria didn't wake up at all last night, so I was a bit worried about how she'd be in the morning.

I jumped down the stairs that led into the dining room before I ended up finally seeing her. Her eyes were cast down over a cup of what seemed to be coffee. I could tell from the smell that it was the dark beverage that would make her hyper and energetic, but it seemed to be doing nothing for her, either that or she just hadn't taken any in yet.

"Aria!" The girl lifted her head at my voice and stared at me wide-eyed.

"Oh… hey Jez…" I blinked at the girl as her eyes returned to their downcast look upon her coffee.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I put my hand on my hip as the girl's eyes hid behind her hair. "Are you upset that you lost? So what? We all do at one point in our lives, and no one loss we have is going to be the last-"

"You mean you don't think I'm weak?" Aria looked up at me angrily, tears were streaming from her body and it was shaking in rage. "You don't think that I'm horrible?"

"Because you lost?" I was bewildered with what she was saying. I shook my head angrily before I walked up to the girl at the table and hit her upside the head with the flat of my hand.

"OW!" She shrieked before she growled up at me. "What the hell was that?"

"Well what the hell is wrong with you?" I slammed down my hands on the table and it knocked over her coffee. Aria was startled out of her rage. "How dare you ask me those kinds of questions? I would think that you knew that I don't care if you lose a battle. It doesn't change the fact that you're my friend and I care. What the hell did you think I was going to do since I beat you? Leave? Abandon you?" I shoved my forehead against hers and growled at her. "I think you know me better than that! I _don't_ abandon my friends and family. After all that's happened to me, how could I do that? You all mean so much to me, dragging me out of the darkness I was drowned in for so many years."

"Whoa! Jez! Cool it!" I felt two sets of hands grab me roughly and haul me back, but I pulled my arms out of one of their holds and reached forward toward Aria, only getting my hand to the end of her table, right before her.

"If you wanted me to drop you like a bombshell, all you had to do was betray me." I pulled my other arm free and slammed it on the table as well. "And you just did. Have a nice life Charlotte."

"Wait, Jez!" Her arm shot out and grabbed mine, but I wasn't in the mood. After all I'd done for her, this is how she thanks me? Expecting me to hate her because she lost to me in battle? I worried all this time over her for that?

"I'M SORRY! I WAS AFRAID!" She just barely caught my attention with that last comment, causing me to halt and wait for her to speak. "It's just… I was so afraid of you abandoning me if I battled you and lost… I let my fears take control of me… even though I knew you'd never leave…" I could hear her sobbing behind me. "I never deserved you as a friend…"

"And how different does that make you from me?" I heard her lightly gasp as I turned around to look at her again. "How is it that I deserved you as a friend? Or Casey? Or Mattie? I yelled at you, fought against you, ordered you around and you all just took it!" I clenched my fist. "Before I found out everything about my family and Rose… I was a bitch that was moaning about my pain and every bad thing in my life. How could you so easily follow someone like me?"

"How?" Aria's eyes looked down at the table before her. "How…"

"Because we believed in you." Casey drew both of our attentions to him and Mattie at his side. He took a step closer in case he needed to stop us again.

"Because… we wanted to help you…" Mattie's eyes bore worriedly into our own. He also prepared himself to move should he need to.

"Because… you were one of our first friends too." I turned back to Aria, my expression finally softened. "Even if you were different and needed some help, we were still willing to accept you because you helped us and wanted to be friends too."

"We've all been lonely; none of us had friends before we found each other." Casey sighed, I saw him relax his body and allow himself to sit down at the table. He must have guessed our argument was over. "I think that may have had a hand in how we ended up being friends and traveling together."

"But… we can talk about this later…" Mattie looked worriedly between us two girls. "Jezebel… Aria… you two are best friends, sisters even, and treasure each other… you shouldn't be fighting. Apologize to each other."

His voice was soft and timid, but the order was still there, one of his few moments of bravery outside of battle, and he was demanding that Aria and I make up. Looking back on the prior conversation, I was too harsh on her, so hell-bent on correcting her when I heard her utter those words that I'd never thought she'd say. I'd turned into an old version of myself. That pain that I'd once felt… that will never go away. I can lock it up, pretend it isn't there, try to move on, but there's always a chance it will come out. It's a good thing and a bad thing. I don't want to use it against my friends, but I want to unleash it full force on Rose. I want to murder her with this pain I feel, for all that she made me suffer for so many years… the pain she put my family through… and the death of my mother….

"Jez… I'm so sorry… I can't believe I let such a stupid thing get between us…"

I looked up at the young woman. "I'll accept your apology if you're willing to accept mine for losing my temper." I shook my head as an image of my mother flashed before my eyes. "There's still so much anger built up in me… and I don't think it will ever be gone until Rose is dead."

"That's good… Rose deserves to face all that anger and die." I blinked in surprise, as did the others at Mattie's outburst.

"She does, Jez; we're all mad at her, pissed, furious, you name it." Casey gritted his teeth. "But we'll be working as hard as we can to get you closer to her so you can avenge your mother."

"Right, and I accept!" Aria grinned and came around the table to hug me. "But we should get off such a depressing topic; you and Mattie are battling to become the next champion! Be proud! Be strong! Win!"

"Only one of us can have that title, though, Aria. You know that right?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Of course I know that! But that doesn't mean I can't wish you both luck all the same!" She giggled. "Now let's get some breakfast! Then we should meet up with our families that Violet brought here before you two go sign up and we'll get our seats to watch."

"Wait, they're already here?" My jaw dropped.

"Yeah, Violet brought them all here last night." Casey nervously smiled. "I couldn't help but go see my dad, mom and Ceci. I hadn't seen them in so long…"

"Does that mean…?" Aria gasped as she looked at him.

Casey could only grin back. "Yeah, I saw your father and brothers, they looked really happy to be seeing you soon, Aria, and… they already threatened if I didn't take the most amazing care of you, I'd never make it past fourteen."

"Oh, I'll take care of them!" Aria grinned as she looked over at us. "Now let's eat, people! We gotta get some energy into these two extra-special trainers before they go and challenge the Pokѐmon League!"

We easily agreed to that and sat down to order with all of our teams coming out for it as well. We ate happily and merrily as if we'd never at all fought, and I'm glad we were able to put that in the back of our minds.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was only a short while later that we were on our way to sign up for the league and meet up with our family and friends before we would get into the battles. Well, at least Mattie and I would. Aria and Casey would stay up in the stands with all our families and watch our battles, so Casey could see some strange and new types of pokemon in the league, and Aria could make a report on the two of us as we challenged our way to the top.

With all our pokemon returned so they wouldn't get lost in the crowd, we made our way over to where we saw some of our friends and family. I first saw my father and my uncles and aunts, their jet black or bright red hair all stood out to me. Once my father got sight of me, the largest grin appeared on his face.

"Jezebel!" My father's voice carried throughout the entire room, and once his voice had hit the air, it seemed as if all hell had broken loose. My entire family raced toward me and I was smothered in the middle of them. I was surprised to hear that clapping and cheering was going off around me once I was in the arms of my family. My father didn't seem to notice them at all as he focused in on me.

"Oh, you did it, baby girl!" My father grinned as he crushed me against his body. "You got all eight badges and you're going to fight for the championship!" His eyes softened a bit as he looked at me in the eyes. "Your mother would have been so proud of you."

"I bet she still is; she's already waiting for me to get going and battle." I couldn't help but grin as I looked around at the rest of my family surrounding me. My cousins were all next to grab me into tight hugs while my aunts and uncles rushed around them to hug them as well.

"Oh, Jezebel; we can't wait to see you battle out there!" My uncle Archie was the first to ruff up my hair. I could only yelp out of surprise at him before pushing away his hands.

"Uncle Archie!" He only laughed at me before his wife took me from him.

"Oh Jez… we're all so proud of you! We're all so excited to see you battle here!" She hugged me close to her. "We all believe that you can take that championship!"

"That's right, and I think that's one of the only things we've been able to agree on recently." My other aunt, Courtney, hugged me as well before she allowed me some space for my last uncle to make his way to me, the brother of my mother, Maxie.

"And we'll all be there to watch you make yourself the champion; we all know that you're the strongest Jezebel." With a final hug from him, I nodded to him before looking through the crowd for Mattie. I found him in the arms of his mother who was crying about how far he'd been able to make it. His father looked quite proud. I saw the other side of his family there as well: his aunt, uncle, Mary and Dustin.

"Mattie!" The boy looked away from his family to where I was waving to him. "We better get going or we'll never get to battle!"

"Coming, Jez!" The boy gave a final hug to his family before rushing over to my side and we made our way up to the counter before the entrance to the back of the castle. From there at the desk it was a short matter of time before we ended up with number tickets to show to the people at the stage entrance that we were battling. I was battling first and Mattie was going to be right behind me. I was excited beyond belief that we'd finally be battling for the title of the strongest trainer in this region. I couldn't wait to get out into that arena.

"You ready for this, Mattie?" I saw the boy grin over at me before he nodded.

"Yes, I am, Jezebel; let's go!" The young man next to me was already pumped for the battles that were heading our way. We sat down on the benches outside of the first battle room and could see our families and friends in the distance as they walked to where the viewing areas were. They waved to us before they vanished from our sights up to the stands and got situated to watch the matches prior to ours.

I could only grin as I felt the anticipation.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"So I see the two of you are ready to go." I looked up to see Violet and Gwyn standing before me with large grins on their faces.

"You better believe it, Vi." I couldn't help but smirk back.

"You'll be called in a little while, Jez, but we'll be heading up into the stands with the others," Gwyn told me. "Battle out there like crazy, there are some powerful people here today that are watching you like we are."

"Will do, and I'll win that championship."

"Good." Violet nodded before she turned on her heels and left. "Good luck."

"_Jezebel Emery-Twain!_" I slightly jumped when I heard my name be called. I stood up and waved at Mattie before I rushed off to show my ticket and head out onto that battlefield.

When I made it out there, I saw that the battlefield was a dark one, the floor and the walls were black in color with lights on the battle boxes, but the rest of the battlefield was encased in mostly darkness other than the scattered faded lights that were on the walls and floor.

I looked to the other side of the field and watched as a man, who was dressed a bit strangely in my opinion, entered. His head was bald, other than the small patch of hair that looked like it was pushed back against the bald head. Tan dress pants were on his lower half while a red button up shirt with a black vest was over his chest. Black and red sneakers covered his feet and I couldn't tell if he was trying to be a punk (due to his hair style), a fancy upperclassman, or both.

The man simply smiled at me before he pulled out a pokeball and the door behind me closed with a slamming sound, almost threatening. I could only grin as I was cornered in, or rather, he trapped himself inside with me.

"Welcome, Jezebel Emery-Twain. We of the Elite Four and our champion have been waiting a long while to face off against you." The man grinned before lightly tossing up the pokeball and catching it in his hands. "My name is Sidney Ebony, the first of the Elite Four. I am a master of dark types and I love thrilling battles, whether I win or lose!" He clenched his fist before him and his eyes stared right into mine. "I love that look in your eyes, the need for the battle. Let me give you a battle you can talk about for many times to come!"

"Sounds good to me!" I pulled out one of my pokeballs and threw it out. "Let's go, Blade!" My pokemon was released from his pokeball and leapt out onto the field. He jumped from one foot to the next lightly while he watched Sidney from across the battlefield.

"Good choice! Now let's see how your pokemon fare against my dark types! Let's go, Mightyena!" The dark type pokemon appeared before us and growled heavily, its red eyes glaring at my pokemon. "I have to say I've never seen a pokemon like yours before, but it looks like a fun one."

"Oh, Blade is 'fun' all right." I shook my head as I already planned out my moves with him in my head, relaying him to them via his psychic powers. "So who gets the first move?"

"I do!" The mightyena took off at his outcry as it sped toward my pokemon. "Let's start out with Bite, Mightyena!"

"Teleport!" Blade vanished from sight as the mightyena approached him. The beast rapidly turned around to try to find him, and I laughed when it couldn't see him on the battlefield. I watched the beast growl as it continued to throw its head back and forth, trying to just find my pokemon.

"Where the hell did that pokemon go?" Sydney was looking around for my pokemon himself as well and only when he looked upward did he see my gallade. "Shit! Above you, Mightyena!"

The pokemon raced to look upward from his trainer's orders and watched as my pokemon hung there from the ceiling with a grin on his face. He vanished from sight again for the enemy pokemon and landed right behind him.

"Psycho Cut; throw him away!" I grinned as the adrenaline was beginning to rush and Blade's connection to me was strong as I felt the very throw of his arm as the glowing blade of his arm slammed into the body of the mightyena. The small beast howled in pain as its body shot back into the wall and cracked it open, leaving a crater there in the side of the wall. It was clear from the settling dust that the pokemon was able to push itself from the wall and land on the ground, but not without a lot of pain.

"Mightyena!" Sydney called out worriedly to his pokemon.

"I'm not stopping there; low kick!" Blade dropped to the ground with a glowing leg, teleported, and using the power from his hands, he swung his leg at the pokemon at the base of the wall. It cried out as it landed inside the wall again and was blown through the wall. Through the cracks in it, I could see into the next room from behind Sydney. It was dark; I could barely see the lighting of a grave in there along with a purple haze.

"Sorry about that, Phoebe!" Sydney called to the next room.

"No problem; I'll cover it up!" I heard a cherry voice call from the next room and suddenly Mightyena was thrown back in this room with one of the gravestones from the other room slammed into the wall and covering up the hole.

I saw that when the mightyena was thrown back in here, it had x's over its eyes. I grinned as Blade and I had finished off the first pokemon in no time at all, and he was hardly breaking a sweat. _Good, that would be better for us for more difficult battles ahead when he would really need his strength, but who knows what else Sydney had up his sleeve…_

"Return, Mightyena. You did great!" Sydney returned his pokemon and snorted a laugh before he looked back at me. "Well seems like you're off to a good start, now let's see what we can do to change that! Let's go, Shiftry!"

I was surprised to see that this pokemon was nothing that I'd ever seen before. It was a wooden creature with what I would call either hair or fur that was white in color that covered its face and trailed down its back and hung close to the floor. Its hands were made of batches of leaves. Its nose was sticking out from under its face. Its eyes were golden in color.

I had to know a bit about it and pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the pokemon. _Shiftry, the wicked pokemon and the evolved form of nuzleaf. Shiftry is a mysterious Pokémon that is said to live atop towering trees dating back over a thousand years. It creates terrific windstorms with the fans it holds. There are no known shiftry nests in this area. _

_I know this pokemon is a grass and dark type… but I know it knows some flying type moves…_ So this is what Sydney was trying to get at, trying to have some advantage type moves to do some damage, or even take out Blade, but he still had the advantage type to that shiftry.

"All right, Shiftry! Let's start out with gust!" The pokemon on the other side of the field grinned as it whipped up its hands and a small tornado came flying at us.

"Teleport!" Blade was gone in the next second and it seemed that Sydney was getting a bit frustrated with the fact that Blade was also a psychic type, which meant he could use teleport to get away from the moves that were super effective against him. I could see Sydney growling on the other side of the field from how utterly helpless he was when facing my pokemon.

"Above you Shiftry! Shadow ball!" The pokemon looked upward to where my pokemon hung a second time and shot off a shadow ball toward him.

"Protect!" Blade dropped himself from the ceiling and covered himself with a shield in time to knock off that shadow ball before he landed on the ground. "Now use a combo of fire and ice punch!"

"Protect!" The opposite side of the field called out the same move just in time as my gallade threw the first punch. His fist broke the shield and the shiftry had to throw itself backward to avoid getting hit, but Blade just kept on coming. "Damn it… use bullet seed!"

An array of seeds then shot out of the enemy pokemon's mouth and fired away at Blade. He simply danced around all of them and the ones he couldn't avoid he threw his punches at, freezing them up and redirecting them, or burning them up into ash.

"Hit him with all you got!" Blade then threw forward his fire punch to let the fire expand to all the seeds in the air as they caught fire and raced back to the shiftry. It cried out from pain and jumped back.

"Now with the other!" My order was carried out and Sydney watched angrily as the ice punch came forward and flew through the air. It shot out from Blade's fist and hit the shiftry on the other side of the field, completely freezing it in a solid case of ice.

The pokemon didn't move inside the ice, even after the long pressing moments we waited to see if it could break free. Shiftry were grass and dark types, which made them weak to ice, fire and fighting type moves, and Blade nearly hit it with all of those types. I suddenly saw the ice beginning to break apart and Blade got down into a stance, waiting for the pokemon to break free and attack. He was sadly disappointed when the pokemon broke out, but fell onto the ground with no energy left. It was beaten.

"Another one down. Blade, hang in there!" My pokemon huffed as he watched the other side of the field, eagerly waiting for the next pokemon to be sent out.

"How is it that I'm being so overpowered? Am I really this weak? Or are you really that strong?" Sydney looked up at me with questioning eyes as he returned his pokemon and pulled out another pokeball and threw it out to the field. "I guess we'll find out! Let's go Cacturne!"

The pokemon was also dark and grass type, and I recognized it as one of the pokemon that Mary had with her helping her gather berries over at their house in Verdanturf Town. It stood quite tall with needles primed and at the ready.

_Oh, this will be as easy as the last one…_

"Start out with sandstorm, Cacturne!" The pokemon kicked up a whole bunch of dirt and dust as it suddenly swirled in the air as it blocked out Blade's vision. I could see it scratching away at his body like sandpaper to wood. He cringed a bit as it hit him.

"Protect, Blade!" Blade threw up a shield around him and the sand swirled around him, but never came close to where he was now with the protective shield in play.

"Now use needle arm, Cacturne!" Through the storm I watched as the cacturne sped forward and, with the needles glowing on its arm, took a swing at the shield protecting Blade, trying to break through it. "Now use spikes!" I was shocked to see the needles on its arms enlarge in size and change in shape before they were thrown off the body at my pokemon. They still only hit the shield he had up, but they landed all around his feet. I'd have to keep an eye on those to use in the future.

"Teleport!" At my command, Blade was gone, but Sydney had figured out our routine now. The ceiling was our safe haven, it was out of the storm and out of the way of the spikes. Sydney looked up to the ceiling, ready to call out a command, but stopped himself short.

Blade wasn't on the ceiling…

"Now! Use fire punch!" Before the actual attack could hit him from behind, the cacturn's needles caught fire and then the fist hit it. The sandstorm instantly was cast aside and thrown away into dust that lingered on the ground while the pokemon burned on the ground, squirming and rolling on the ground. Blade watched with an unimpressed look and turned back to me.

I could only shrug. "It's up to you, Blade. I'd put out the fire first, since it doesn't look like it's going away." I chuckled a bit and pointed to the burning pokemon on the ground. "Ice punch!"

Blade sped forward and he threw his fist encased in ice at the pokemon on the ground. I watched as it was encased in ice and the fire on its body melted it before the entire casing of ice and the flames were gone. The cacturne lay out on the ground, taken out from those few attacks.

_I grinned. There should only be a couple or so left. I think besides the champion, Sidney had the most pokemon…_

"Damn! This battle is so one-sided! We gotta change that!" Sidney pulled out another pokeball. "Let's go Crawdaunt!"

Out came a similar pokemon to what I faced in my last gym battle. The pokemon raised its pincers at us and I could only grin.

"So, Blade? Wanna play?" My pokemon grinned before he teleported away and Sydney failed to see him at all. Suddenly Blade appeared again right behind the enemy pokemon and dropped down to the ground before delivering a kick that threw it toward the spikes that were littered on our side of the field. It cried out in pain as the spikes were damaging its body while Blade literally didn't have to do a thing. Sydney's mouth was left wide open as he watched the damage just rack up.

"You probably shouldn't have left those spikes there." I grinned over at him. "I knew I'd be able to use those since you put them down." His eyes widened as I shook my head. "But now that the spikes are out of the way, let's finish this up, Blade. Put that poor pokemon out of its misery!"

Blade teleported himself right next to the crawdaunt and his fist lit up with electricity. He slammed that fist down on its body and the crawdaunt stopped moving entirely. The crowds got quiet around us, and even I was beginning to get worried when I saw the pokemon not moving at all. _I didn't want to hurt it that much…_

Sydney rushed out onto the field to check out his pokemon. I saw him lift it up to look at him before I saw him sigh. "He's all right! Just knocked out cold."

I let out a sigh of relief. _Thank Latias…_ He returned his pokemon and stood up to face me as he went back to his side of the field.

"I can't believe how one-sided this battle has been, and I don't think it's my team; I think it's you." Sydney sighed. "But nevertheless, I loved this battle because it showed me how strong people can really be in this world. Not many people have strength like you do, so let me finish this up with you so you can take a shot at the rest of the Elite Four!" He threw out his last pokeball. "Let's go, Absol!"

From the pokeball came a four legged creature with white fur all over its body with a scythe sticking out of the side of its head. Its red eyes glared at me and Blade, while the claws on its feet were digging at the ground. I pulled out my pokedex to find out more about it. _Absol, the disaster pokemon. It sharply senses even subtle changes in the sky and the land to predict natural disasters. It's a long-lived pokemon that has a life span of one-hundred years. It appears when it sense an impending natural disaster. As as result, it was mistaken as a doom-bringer. Absol nests are rare and are only found on route one-twenty._

I had to think over this pokemon_. If it's a disaster sensor, could that mean it could __**make**__ disasters too? _I stared down at the pokemon. This one made me a bit nervous from its strange shape and just the description about it in general. From what my pokedex told me, apparently it was just a dark type, so Blade would do just fine type-wise, but what else might be hiding under that pokemon's fur and up Sydney's sleeve?

"Start out with shadow ball!" Sydney was quick to start and I was surprised at the speed of the pokemon as it raced around the field and fired a barrage of shadow balls at Blade. My pokemon, in return, used his sword like arms to block and throw back each of them that came toward him, only to have them explode a few feet from him, covering him in dust. I could see my pokemon wiping the sand out of his eyes.

"Blade! Teleport!" Blade vanished and the pokemon looked for him around the field, but I was shocked to see how quickly it found him hidden on the ceiling, trying to clean himself up.

"Don't give him time to recover! Thunderbolt!" The absol cried out as electricity left its body and struck Blade. He cried out as the lightning hit him, but he didn't let go of the ceiling. In fact, he teleported away to try and get behind the pokemon. The absol quickly whipped around to face Blade with its teeth bared toward him.

_Shit! That special ability it has lets it sense where its opponent is!_

"Blade! It knows where you are with its disaster senses!" I hissed out as my pokemon teleported again, but that absol was right on my pokemon's ass.

"Now! Use flamethrower, Absol!" Flames erupted from the mouth of the dark type and fired away at Blade's face.

"Protect!" Blade covered his body in a shield just in time as the attack hit. He was safe… for now… and hopefully until I can devise a plan to get by this thing.

"Now use blizzard!" I was surprised as the variety of types of moves that this pokemon knew as it kept firing away at Blade. It only hit the shield and bounced away, but Blade was losing energy. I could see some of his shield cracking.

"Yes! It's breaking!" Sydney cheered as he pumped a fist into the air. "Hit it harder, Absol! Hyper Beam!"

I was surprised by the normal type move that blinded the arena with light and hit Blade head on and I heard the sickening crack of his shield before it shattered to pieces. I could hear Sydney cheering on the other side as the dust flew up into the air and blocked our vision of the battle. Everyone went silent as we watched the area.

I easily saw Blade on my side of the field. It seemed that the attack hadn't really hurt him, just took off his shield, but he was still a bit tired from all the energy he spent on it to keep it up. Looking to the other side of the field, the absol wasn't doing as well. Using such a powerful attack left the pokemon winded and stranded for a few moments.

And that was all I needed.

"Shit!" Sidney called out as he looked at his pokemon. "Absol-"

"Not this time! Our turn to attack and wrap this up!" I grinned and Blade ran in before I even uttered the attack. "Blade, close combat!"

"Gall!" Blade jumped up into the air, getting in the personal space of the pokemon before him that was recovering and sent his fists and hands flying at the pokemon, all covered in a light tan light. Only a few hits and the pokemon was thrown back into the wall, then fell to the ground at Sydney's feet. It was knocked out for the count.

"Absol is unable to battle! The winner of this battle is Blade and the victor is Jezebel Emery-Twain of Petalburg City!" the ref called. "They move onto the next round!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as I returned Blade to his pokeball and made my way to the other side of the room where Sidney was. To my shock, he was laughing.

"That was one of the best battles I had in a long time!" He laughed and wiped away a stray tear that fell from his eyes from laughter. "I don't think I've ever been so overwhelmed!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean… you're not mad? Upset?"

"Naw!" He brushed it off and grinned at me goofily. "I love all kinds of battles, and while this one did frustrate me a bit because of how I couldn't do much, I still had a lot of fun and you showed me that I have a lot to learn." He chucked his thumb in the direction of the room behind him where the grave was being used to close up a hole we made earlier. "Head to the next room and test your strength there; Phoebe will know if you have a strong bond with your pokemon, or if it's just a strong, monstrous pokemon."

I nodded at him and gave him a smile. I walked through the room in the back and saw that there was a small waiting area on this side. It was purple in color with dim lights and I saw that there were hardly any trainers here; Sydney must have been the member of the Elite Four that weeded most of the weaker trainers out. I only saw a handful in here. It would be much sooner to wait for the next room.

To cure me of my boredom, I called out Blade and allowed him to sit next to me while I took care of his wounds before connecting my mind to his and all the others as we ran through battle plans and moves and combinations and different scenarios for the next battle with the mystery woman on the other side of that grave that covered the hole in the wall…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"I knew you'd make it through to the next round, Mattie." I grinned as I saw the green haired-boy make his way into the room with me a short while later. All of the people before me were battled or battling the next member of the Elite Four at the time, who I assumed to be Phoebe Ohanzee. She must have weeded out the rest of the few members after that; if I see anyone else after this, I'd be shocked.

"I'm happy to see you too, Jezebel…" He stuttered lightly as he took a seat next to me. "I-I trust that you had an easy time with your match?"

"Oh, yeah; a few bumps, but nothing Blade and I couldn't handle." I grinned at him. "So who did you use?"

"I used Corra… we had a bit of trouble since there was no type advantage….. But we made it through." He shrugged. "But I bet it was really quick for you and Blade."

"Yeah, we blasted through his Pokemon. We only had some trouble with the last one, his absol."

"Hey, Jezebel? Do you think we'll see each other again before the end?"

I blinked at him before I looked down at my lap. "I don't know, Mattie; we'll just have to wait and see."

"I hope we do get to see each other again…"

"Hey," I patted his back. "If we don't, then we'll just see each other at the end."

"_Jezebel Emery-Twain!_" My name was called and I quickly jumped to my feet and stood before Mattie.

"Well, I gotta go Mattie; I'll see you when I do." He was quick to jump to his feet as well and grab my wrist. "Mattie?"

"If I don't get to see you until the end, then I want to do this before I lose all my courage…" Before I knew what was happening, Mattie's other hand slid up the side of my face and pulled my face toward him to where he planted a soft kiss on my lips. I was stunned as I heard that loud sound when a kiss was broken. Mattie's face was the deepest red I'd ever seen before he turned me around and pushed me out toward the assistant to check out my ticket. Wordlessly, I showed him my ticket while I lightly touched my lips.

The one thing I'd wanted for so long since I'd admitted my feelings to myself… I couldn't believe it… He felt the same way…?

I couldn't help them but smile as I stepped out into the next room. _I have to make it to the end and show Mattie that I love him too._

Stepping out into the next room, it was exactly as I had seen it from the last room: full of graves on the ground and a low hanging fog that gently flowered through the room, giving it a bit of a chilling feeling. It was a bit of a purple color in the room, and on the other side of the room I saw my opponent. The woman that stood there was quite slim and was wearing what seemed to be a blue bikini with a blue and white tie on skirt. I saw two hibiscus flowers on either side of her head, attached to her short dark brown hair. Her skin was a dark tan and her eyes were a deep blue.

"Hi! I'm Phoebe Ohanzee!" The girl grinned as she looked over at me. "You must have been the one to make that hole in the wall! I'm so excited to battle you!" She smiled at me happily. "It's been a long time since I got to battle someone who was really powerful!"

"So, shall we battle, then? I'm Jezebel, by the way." I drew out the pokeball with the pokemon I planned to use and the woman shocked me with a scream.

"Oh my god! You're Jezebel Emery-Twain!" She screeched and jumped up and down. "Oh, I never thought you'd get here! I've been dying to battle you ever since you started getting famous on the news and I saw how you battled in street battles caught on TV or the final showdown in Sootopolis!"

"Then why don't we bring that fantasy to life?" I smirked at her as I threw the pokeball up into the air and caught it in my hand. "Because I need to get to that room behind you, and I can only do that if I win."

"Oh, you bet!" Phoebe grinned and pulled out her own pokeball. "Let's go Dusclops!"

Out came the pre-evolution to Darkness, and I couldn't help but grin as I watched the ghost pokemon look at me in question before it began to try and size me up.

"Oh this is going to be interesting…" I laughed as I threw out his ball. "Let's go, Darkness! Show them your power!"

My own ghost pokemon came out and I saw Phoebe flinch, as well as her pokemon, when they saw mine. She brought a hand to her mouth, and I wasn't sure if it was to stop the gasp or the scream she was suppressing.

"Darkness… the dusknoir… I've never seen this pokemon before… I'm shocked that my pokemon could evolve again… and I'm so honored to test my strength against it!" Phoebe took no time to start off. "Shadow ball!"

A quick attack came flying out at us as we stood on the other side of the field. I refused to tell Darkness anything and allowed him to take the hit and test the strength of her attack. Darkness had only allowed his arm to stand before him as the attack hit. The attack stayed against his arm and he allowed his stomach to open up and absorb the attack.

Phoebe gasped as she watched the attack vanish inside of my pokemon. "My attack… it didn't do anything? How strong is your bond with him?"

"Stronger than most people would ever know." I allowed my eyes to close and think back to the past as I remembered first meeting Darkness and all the adventures I'd shared with him since then, up to this point. I'd accomplished so much with him and my other team members… my family…

My eyes flashed open and Phoebe sucked in a breath as she watched me and the air around me changed. I was silent as I watched her, waiting for her to make another move. She didn't right away, as she nervously watched me before I could see her blood boil from me not making a move.

"All right, I'm sick of waiting! Dusclops! Use shadow punch! Beat that thing!" I watched as a barrage of shadowy punches made their way over to where Darkness suspended himself in the air. He calmly watched the punches get closer to him before he slowly moved to their rhythm and danced around each of them as they came flying at him.

Phoebe screeched when nothing would hit my pokemon. I could see her getting frustrated from not making any headway.

"Confuse ray!" The dusclops moved its hands around in circles as its eye glowed and tried to confuse my pokemon. Darkness simply watched, his eyes glowed for only a moment before they went back to normal.

"How is this possible…?" Phoebe backed away from her box. "How is it that that pokemon is that strong?"

"Darkness and I, as well as my entire team, have been through many ordeals that most people can't say they've dealt with in their entire lives." I looked right at her, holding her attention. "But I think we've sat by and done nothing long enough. Darkness," my ghost pokemon turned his head back to look at me with his dark red eyeball, "Use ominous wind."

He nodded and his stomach opened up before what looked like souls emerged from his body and spread along the field in waves of a blackish purple color. Phoebe seemed to watch in a mixture of amazement and horror as the attack came full force onto her pokemon. The spirits carried her pokemon up into the air and phased through its body, as if it was sucking the life out of it. I watched as the pokemon cried out and twisted its body in pain before it tried to break free and the spirits halted all movement of its body before the pokemon's eye rolled into the back of its head.

The attack was released and the spirits returned to Darkness' body before the dusclops was dropped to the ground. Phoebe gasped and rushed out to check on her pokemon on the field.

"Is your pokemon all right?" I questioned the other side of the field.

"Yeah, my pokemon's okay." Phoebe returned her pokemon. "But I'm just… so blown away at the power you have. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up yet!" She pulled out another pokeball and threw it out. "Let's go, Sableye!"

I was shocked to see a strange pokemon like this appear. It was a small pokemon, no bigger than Silky without her wings. It had bright blue gems for eyes on its scrawny, purple body, as well as some other scattered gems on its chest and back. Its body was very angular and had many sharp edges to it, especially the sharp edges standing upward on the sides of its head. It grinned at me with a toothy grin before it started jumping into the air.

I pulled out my pokedex on the pokemon to find out more about it. Sableye, the darkness pokemon. _Sableye lead quiet lives deep inside caverns. They are feared, however, because these pokemon are thought to steal the spirits of people when their eyes burn with a sinister glow in the darkness. Sableye nests are commonly found in the Granite Cave, the Sky Pillar or the Victory Road._

I blinked at the information before I looked at the pokemon that was bouncing on the field. Phoebe looked quite pleased with the pokemon, even as she nervously watched Darkness_. I guess the only way to find out what I'm up against is going to be to fight._

I took in a breath before I glanced to the other side of the field. "Start us out with sucker punch, Darkness!" My pokemon did just as such, his hands were covered with a dark energy before he threw them in a barrage at the other ghost pokemon.

"Dodge!" Phoebe was quick to shout and I watched the little pokemon vanish from sight. My eyes went wide as I tried to watch where it may have hurried off to, but I soon found that the pokemon was nowhere on the floor. I glanced above, a trick I'd taught Blade to use to avoid people if we were battling inside, and I saw the little thing. It flinched when my eyes caught it and it scrambled to move.

"Darkness! Above!" My pokemon nodded and levitated upwards and used the same attack again. Pieces of the ceiling were knocked loose from his fists hitting them and I barely dodged a piece, but I was intent on keeping up the attack and getting that thing.

"Be careful, Jezebel! Don't get hurt! Call off your pokemon!" Phoebe called from the other side of the field.

"I'm fine!" I ignored her warning as Darkness kept on the trail of the quick pokemon as it evaded all of Darkness' attacks. I was getting a bit frustrated at it, so it was time to take that thing out. "All right, Darkness, use a combination of fire and ice punch!"

My pokemon followed after the ghost and dark type that was speeding along the walls, ceiling and floor and kept up his barrage of punches, this time filled with ice or fire for their fuel. The attack followed a little more closely after the pokemon, leaving behind trails of ice and fire that followed the little pokemon as it sprang away from him. Within a short amount of time, the entire room was covered from head to toe in ice and fire. Phoebe's room was pretty much ruined and destroyed. Not to mention, in the time given for the room to be covered, the sableye had to be more careful of the path that it was taking to get away from us, slowing it down and making it easier for Darkness to get closer.

"Now, Darkness! Grab that thing!" Darkness' arm was thrown out as the pokemon and I heard it screech as it saw the hand coming toward it.

"Detect!" Phoebe screeched and I blinked before the pokemon jumped off the wall and onto the floor. A red glow was in its eyes as it darted to the sides.

_I know that attack, it's another attack that acts similarly to 'protect'. This attack, 'detect,' allows the pokemon an unbeatable speed to avoid an attack. But unlike protect, this one doesn't have a shield if it has nowhere to go, and I'm getting sick of having to chase it!_

"All right; I'm through playing games!" I growled and pointed to the pokemon. "Darkness, cover the room in your shadows! Use ominous wind!"

Darkness cackled before his stomach opened again and the spirits were unleashed. The sableye screeched and darted to the corners of the room where there was free space from the attack, but it soon ran out of room when the attack of spirits cornered him before coming down in endless numbers. It cried out as it attack failed and it was caught in the attack.

"Okay! You win this match! Let Sableye go! Please!" Phoebe begged as she saw the spirits attack her pokemon. I nodded to her and whistled for Darkness to let up. He did, allowing the spirits to return to his body before I saw the damaged body of her pokemon be dropped to the ground. Phoebe rushed over to the pokemon and sighed when she saw he was only knocked out.

"You're so easily able to take out my Pokemon; it seems like the Pokѐmon League is a training exercise for you Jezebel." Phoebe shook her head as she returned her pokemon and went back to her box, pulling out what looked to be a final pokeball. "Maybe it is, and I'm glad we have really powerful trainers out there like you to show us that we're not all so mighty and powerful like many others and ourselves claim to be." She smiled at me sweetly. "I hope you make it all the way through to the end and take the title. I'd love to have a battle partner like you who could help make me stronger than this and give people a real run for their money when they battle me." She sighed and looked down at the ground. "I know that you're going to beat me and move onto the next room. I'm not strong enough to hold you back, but I at least hope to go out with a bang!" She threw out the pokeball with as much force as she could. "Let's finish this up, Banette!"

I saw another small pokemon come out of the pokeball. It levitated itself up into the air and I saw that had a small gray body that resembled a bit of a worn doll with a mouth sewed shut and red eyes with a braid on the back of its head with a red end to it. It looked quite evil when I looked at it; I could sense the vibes from it here. Phoebe's last pokemon would be an interesting one.

I remembered seeing a few of them before when I went to the island of Mt. Pyre with Darkness all those years ago, not to mention, they tend to be more active and rowdy at night. Just to brush up my knowledge of this pokemon, I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the angry looking doll.

_Banette, the marionette pokemon and the evolved form of shuppet. An abandoned plush doll became this pokemon. They are said to live in garbage dumps and wander about in search of the children that threw them away. Banette generates energy for laying strong curses by sticking pins into its own body. Banette nests are extremely rare and have only been seen on the Sky Pillar. _

_I knew there was something goldeeny about this pokemon!_ I shook my head. _Even if I don't like how it sounds, I still have to battle it, and Phoebe's lost her confidence, so this is a last-ditch effort. It will be an interesting fight, but I'll make it through. _

"All right then, Darkness! Let's start out with shadow punch!" Darkness vanished from sight and reappeared behind the pokemon and threw its fist at it. The pokemon cried out as it was thrown back, but just got up and looked at Darkness angrily.

"Now Banette! Use curse on her pokemon!" My eyes went wide as the same attack that was used on my friends by Rose Agustino was used on Darkness. Through the bond that he and I shared, I could feel the pain clenching on our bodies and at our hearts drawing what energy we had to take us out.

I could feel the aching. It crawled through my heart and I felt myself fall prey to the attack as well, remembering the effects that Rose had used upon me to kill myself. Feeling that attack upon me, I felt my body naturally push out the attack to defend myself and I looked at Darkness.

"Break free Darkness and take that thing out!" My voice roared out over the pain and Darkness rushed over to where the banette hung on the other side of the field. He angrily grabbed the neck of the pokemon before he threw its body to the ground. Its attack was released and the pokemon cried out. I saw the pokemon angrily lift its head off the ground as it struggled to make itself get up and Darkness glared down at it with the same anger it had in its eyes.

"Again!" Phoebe cried out and the pokemon's eyes glowed red and I felt the pain come over me and Darkness again. It was the one drawback to being connected so well with all my pokemon…

"Attack!" I screeched out and Darkness reached for the marionette pokemon before he threw it and punched its body, using his power to overcome the suffering and use the pain to his strength. The banette cried out before it was thrown all over the place and Darkness kept going after it. I felt it like an endless cycle. We were suffering one moment, then powering through it the next. I felt it like my heart was wrapped up, the strings being tightened into uncontrollable suffering one moment and then released another. I couldn't help but scream a time or two at the pain, which Phoebe had noticed.

"Jezebel! Are you all right?"

I didn't give her an answer as I screamed out and Darkness threw the final blow against the banette. It keeled over when a fist was launched into its gut and threw it back at Phoebe's feet. She gasped and ran out to her pokemon.

"Banette is unable to battle! The winner of this battle is Darkness and the victor is Jezebel Emery-Twain of Petalburg City!" The crowd went wild at my victory, but I could see the concerned faces I got of my friends from up in the crowd that saw that struggle I was going through from the curse attack I felt through Darkness. That attack still gets to me…

"Are you okay, Jezebel?" Phoebe was over at my side with her pokemon already returned. I nodded to hear. "That's good to hear." She sighed and came over and hugged me. "Thank you for an amazing battle, and I'm sorry if I hurt you with that last attack."

"I guess that's my fault for being so attached to my pokemon." I grinned at her while feeling the pain in my chest dull, but it was still there.

Phoebe grinned at me. "Good luck in your next match. I hope you make us a champion we can all be happy about."

"Thanks, I will."

With a nod to her I took off to the next room in a rush. My chest was still overwhelmed with pain when I got to the room beyond Phoebe's battle room. I sunk to the floor against the wall. I still felt constricted in my chest, and the pain wouldn't ease up!

"It really sucks, doesn't it?" I was surprised to see Violet there with Alex at her side and her umbreon on her shoulder.

"You're telling me…" I held my chest in pain and curled up.

"Let me help you out a bit, Hon." Violet bent down on her knees and pressed her hands to my chest gently as she called upon her changeling for of her dark type and began to heal me. "I can only do this for you; if I did it for your pokemon, you'd be disqualified."

"I'll make it through; Darkness is fine, and I'll help him out when I'm half decent."

"Your battling is pretty rough out there Jez; you seem to be quite unbeatable." Alex grinned at me as he gave me a pat on the shoulder. "It would not surprise me if you became the champion, but I'd be a bit worried about holding that title if I were you."

I blinked at him. "And why is that?"

"Because Mattie's been doing _damn_ good, as well as you have been." He snorted a laugh. "I'm sure you'll be facing him at the end."

I grinned up at him. "That was the plan."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"_Jezebel Emery-Twain!_"

It hadn't been long since I got through with my battle with Phoebe and it was already time for me to face the next Elite Four member. I didn't see Mattie as I waited, but it was only a short amount of time between my battles. Not enough for him to meet up with me. I knew I would face him at the end, just like Alex had said to me. I was planning and hoping on it.

I showed the man my ticket and he allowed me through at the front. I was the only trainer there now, and I bet it would be like that until the end, with Mattie right up there behind me. I saw that there was an icy battlefield before me where large chunks of ice were sticking out of the ground, walls and ceiling. On the other side of the room sat a woman on the icy ground. Short blond hair fill of curls was on her head along with icy green eyes. A purple dress covered her body to keep her warm and white sleeves covered her arms with frills of white around her collar bone. The dress didn't show off much skin, but from what little it did at her hands, neck and ankles, her skin was pale white.

"Welcome to the third match of your Elite Four challenge, Jezebel Emery-Twain." The woman rose to her feet. "My name is Glacia Ursa and I will be your next opponent. Like the cold arctic air, I will not allow myself to show you any mercy, just as I would expect from a dominating trainer such as yourself."

"Sounds good to me!" I grinned and threw out my pokeball. "Let's go, Acey!"

My flygon appeared on the stage. I was pleased to hear a few surprise gasps out in the audience as to my choice of pokemon. I knew that Glacia was an ice type user and setting up a ground and dragon type against her would be suicidal if an ice attack hit Acey, but I believed in her power and speed.

Not to mention the fire type moves we practiced and learned.

"An interesting choice. Then, I shall call out my own pokemon that will freeze you in your tracks." Glacia calmly threw out a pokeball and I was shocked to see a floating ice ball with two spikes on its head and a set of angry blue eyes glaring at us with a large stiff mouth. I pulled out my pokedex to find out more about it.

_Glalie, the face pokemon and the evolved form of snorunt. Glalie has the power to instantaneously freeze moisture in the atmosphere. A dazzling cloud of diamond-like ice crystals form around its body. It has a body of ice that won't melt, even with fire. There are no known glalie nests in this region. _

_Well we'll see about how that body holds up to Acey here…_ I glanced over at my pokemon and watched as she looked back at me, waiting for a command wholeheartedly with no hesitation in her eyes. She grinned back at me before I grinned at her too.

"The first move is for you, my dear." Glacia gestured in our direction and my grin only succeeded in widening.

"Works for me!" I felt the anticipation running through my veins as I threw out my hand toward the field. "Acey! Start out with flamethrower!"

My flygon raced off through the air and made her way to the other side of the field where she shot out a quick blast of fire at the glalie. It cried out as the fire hit it, and it was thrown back a few feet closer to Glacia. I could see her grit her teeth at the damage that my pokemon had already landed on her pokemon. The glalie, however, shook off the fire on its body and even with the new, fresh wounds on it, it was ready for more action.

"All right! This ought to be fun!" I grinned and Acey grinned back at me as well. "Now let's not keep the lady waiting, Acey! Charge again with sandstorm this time!"

Since there was almost no dust in the area, Acey summoned some sand that she had been saving in the pit of her stomach in case there was no floor or it was covered in an element we couldn't use, such as ice, water, fire, or lava. We had prepared this before even arriving here at the Pokѐmon League to help us out. The attack swirled and I was shocked to see that it didn't seem to be affecting the pokemon at all as the attack took over the field. The glalie sat there taking the damage. I raised my eyebrow at that.

_What the hell?_

"Now Glalie, use hail!" The ice type cried out and a glowing white ball of ice was shot out of its mouth and into the air above us. I quickly saw how that ball formed clouds over our heads and sent down thick ice balls that were the size of my hands. Some of them even came down at me and it was Blade to my rescue who stood over me and used protect. With me out of harm's way, Acey could focus more on the fight and trying to avoid those ice balls.

"Now Acey! Knock that attack right out of the sky! Use sunny day!" Acey shot a fire ball into the sky and the clouds were quickly cut off by the blazing sun over all our heads. I had to say that the heat felt really good in this cold and icy room. "Now use fire blast!"

"Blizzard Glalie!"

The two attacks hit head on as the air changed drastically in warmth as the seconds passed. One second I was feeling the nice warmth of the fire blast, the next it was icy from the blizzard. The two attacks were pushing at each other, but Acey had an advantage, and that was the sun in the sky- her sunny day attack. It gave Acey the extra power she needed to push through and send her attack right into the pokemon. I could hear Glalie crying out on the other side of the field and watched it fall from Acey's attack. Acey cheered and dove around in circles in the air before she landed before me, ready for the next opponent.

"So this will be quite a more heated match then I am used to." Glacia noted to herself as she retuned her first pokemon. She pulled out another one and threw it out. I was surprised to see it was a walrein that she had sent out against us. This would be making it a bit harder. Walrein was an ice and water type, so we didn't have too many advantages against it.

It would have been nice to know an electric attack… but I guess grass and fire would have to do.

"Alright Acey, start out with solarbeam!"

My dragon quickly jumped through the air and a bright green beam of light blasted from her mouth toward the water and ice type pokemon. I could hear it cry out under the pressure of the attack, but the attack then was thrown off when the pokemon roared out into the air. Its body and even some of the ground shook as its cry echoed out. It stood proud and I snorted as I watched it.

"All right then... let's try fire blast instead!"

"Counter it with surf!" Glacia seemed to be getting into the battle more now as she threw her hand toward the field and her pokemon suddenly summoned the ice on the ground around us that was then melted just barely into cold water and countered the fire attack that Acey was throwing out against them. The two attacks collided and I watched as steam appeared from the two attacks before a fog overtook the field from the attack.

"Don't let up now, Acey! Dive in with another fire blast!"

"Counter again with surf!"

Once again the attacks countered each other; the steam in the room was reverted back into its liquid form as the two attacks clashed time and time again. The water seemed to be vanishing as the two attacks continued to collide and crash. Both of our pokemon seemed to be getting a bit tired from all the attacks they were firing out.

"Enough, Walrein! It's time to take that thing down! I'm tired of dealing with this flygon!" Glacia growled as she threw down her arm angrily. "Use blizzard and take that thing out!"

The walrein then blasted out a large icy attack at my pokemon. Acey dived out of the way of the attack and flew out to the edges of the battlefield to keep the pokemon chasing after her. This way Acey only had to glide on the wind and she was able to relax a bit and catch her breath, while the other pokemon did not get such a chance.

"Walrein!" Glacia cried out as she watched her pokemon tire out so easily from using all its powerful moves.

"Now, Acey! Finish it off with giga drain!" Glacia looked horrified as she saw that my pokemon quickly sucked the energy out of its own body and then into her own. The energy was ripped out into glowing green bubbles before being absorbed into Acey's body.

From this last attack, I watched as the walrein's eyes rolled into the back of its head. It crashed then to the ground and Glacia looked stunned before I saw the fire really burning in her eyes as she returned her pokemon furiously.

"Oh, never have I felt such a heated battle in a long time!" The woman huffed as she glared at the two of us. Acey had landed on the ground for a moment to catch her breath and really take in the energy she'd just zapped out of the walrein. The battles were getting harder, and Acey was feeling the effect; the last few moves that had collided with hers were really taking a beating on her, but now that she was partly recovered, she was ready to go for at least one last round.

And Acey and I were both ready for it.

"Gra!" Acey cried out as she grinned over at Glacia, beckoning her to send out her last pokemon so we could finish this fight.

"Oh, I'll show you my last pokemon, and this one will take you out, you damn beast!" The woman seemed to have a fire blasting from her eyes and mouth as she threw out her last pokeball. I was shocked to see that the pokemon looking at me had a similar look to the glalie she had sent out earlier, but it was not the same as last time. This head was much smaller, and was attached to a body. It looked like a young girl whose body was made of rock, with ice for a head, then faded into a white kimono dress with a bright red ribbon tied around the waist. Its eyes were the same blue as the glalie's were, but the whites of its eyes were dimmed with the color of yellow, a bright yellow at that. The last thing I noticed was there was what appeared to be either hands or hair (or maybe it acted as both) on either side of the pokemon's head.

I'd never seen a pokemon like that before and I pulled out my pokedex to find out more about it. I cringed when I saw the screen.

_No data._

_Shit…_

"Having some problems over there, Jezebel?" Glacia was quick to taunt me as she grinned from the other side of the field, knowing that I had no way of finding any information out about the pokemon she had before me.

I gritted my teeth. "You know what Glacia-" I was cut off when I heard something fall from one of my pockets. I looked back to see what had fallen and it looked like a worn, blue pokedex. My eyes widened at it before my gaze shifted to that of Champion Violet Vilmos who sat in the audience. She didn't look at me, only had her gaze on her boyfriend, but I saw her sneak a peek and wink at me before she turned back to him, chatting it up with Alex. I quickly grabbed the pokedex that she'd snuck onto me once again and pointed it at the pokemon. Its image showed up on Violet's pokedex.

_Froslass, the snow land pokemon and the evolved form of a female snorunt with a dawn stone. Legends in snowy regions say that a woman who was lost on an icy mountain was reborn as froslass. It freezes prey by blowing its negative fifty-eight degree breath. It is said to then secretly display its prey. What seems to be its body is actually hollow. There are no known froslass nests in this region. _

_Oh wow… an ice __**and**__ ghost type… that's an interesting combination…_ I put away the device and looked back out onto the field. So this was a ghost and ice type to face? It's a good thing that Acey knows fire and dark type moves, so that will help out a lot.

Glacia, on the other side of the field, looked at me angrily before directing her attention to the champion up in the stands that had given me her pokedex. "How exactly does that girl have your pokedex, Champion Vilmos?"

"Huh?" Violet lazily turned to her without a care and shrugged. "I've let her borrow it a few times, must have forgotten it the last time. Oh well… I can get it from her later. She's in the middle of a battle now, aren't you?"

"Come take your pokedex from her now!" Glacia seemed to be on the verge of retaliation; I was shocked as she actually stomped her foot like a child.

I watched as Violet raised an eyebrow at her before shaking her head. "Fine, fine." Violet was quickly on her feet and drew wings from her fire type before she then landed on the ground next to me and held out her hand for her blue pokedex. I handed it to her and suddenly I was brought into the woman's arms.

"Violet?"

"Just hug me back." I did as the champion asked and I felt her lips by my ear. "Glacia's froslass is the only pokemon you needed to be concerned about getting information on; all the others from now on will be known through your pokedex."

"Thanks, Vi." I released her from my hold as the woman jumped back up into the seats with the help of her wings of her fire type. She sat back in her seat and cuddled into the side of Alex before the referee called out that our battle was back on. I had my eyes on Glacia, just as she did on me, and we both blurted out our attacks.

"Fire blast!"

"Powder snow!"

The field lit up in white and red as the two attacks of snow and fire clashed again. I had to bring up an arm to help me see past the fire and snow that blasted all over the room in a wild battle. The two attacks suddenly were cut off and the pokemon were pushed back toward their trainers.

"Acey! Crunch!" My dragon bound forward with her teeth as wide as they could go and chased after the ghost type around the room. The froslass screeched out as Acey chased after her and actually managed to hit one of her hands (or hair, still couldn't tell) and the froslass was thrown to the ground right after the bite marks were left on her.

"Froslass!" Glacia cried out as she glared at us. "Counter with avalanche!"

Large piles of snow then appeared over the snow land pokemon's head along with thick craters of ice. I watched in shock as the sheer size just kept getting larger and larger…

Even after her pokemon started to throw it at us.

"Acey!" I screamed out as the attack missed her but was headed in my direction. I heard people screaming out in the crowd as Acey raced through the roaring snow to catch me and throw me up into the air before following me up there. The ice and snow easily started to take over the terrain once again, just like before it had all been used up.

Up in the air, I had released my own wings, from the form of my beautifly, to hold me up over the snow as it settled in. Acey and I had been lucky enough to have missed it, but that was a dangerous move, and I couldn't tell if the power was just out of the Elite Four member's control or if she was really out to get me…

"Are you all right over there, Jezebel?" I could see Glacia on the other side of the fiel;, she looked worriedly through the snow that was still falling to try and see us.

"I'm fine; so is Acey." My dragon blew away the snow that was still inhibiting our vision in the sky with her wings to show Glacia that we were both still all right. I saw her sigh before she clenched her fists. I guess it wasn't her intention to take me out, but she did want Acey out. Her own pokemon looked quite worn from using that attack and I felt a stroke of luck in our favor.

"Let's finish this up, Acey!" My dragon started to dive before I could sent out a command. "Finish it off with crunch!"

My dragon launched her teeth into the pokemon's side and it cried out before it went limp in Acey's mouth. She dropped the pokemon and it fell to the ground.

"Froslass is unable to battle! The winner of this battle is Acey and the victor is Jezebel Emery-Twain of Petalburg City!" the referee call. The crowd went wild at the verdict while I caught Acey in my arms and we happily embraced on the other side of the field next to Glacia. She returned her pokemon and turned away from me.

"Go on; you beat me." She jerked her finger in the direction of the next room and I silently nodded before moving on.

I stopped for a moment before the door. "Thanks for the battle, Glacia; hopefully you and I will both get stronger and have an even longer one."

The woman never responded and I hurried out to the next room. Not a single soul was there other than a man who waited at the door.

"Since you just got out of a battle Jezebel, your allowed a ten minute break if you want before the next battle, since no one is facing the last of the Elite Four."

I nodded to him. "I'll take that break."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Only a few short minutes later, I was heading out to my last battle with the Elite Four members. The man at the door who had offered me a break didn't have to call my name since I was the only one there. A rocky battlefield was shown before me with rocks that seemed to almost be growing out of the ground. A man stood on the other side of the field in torn jeans and a black jacket like trench coat over his bare chest. He had a white captain's hat on his head and a matching mustache of the same color.

"Welcome. I am the last of the Elite Four, Drake Hydra, and a dragon master." The older man spoke with a cool voice where it was reaching my ears on its own, without any extra added effort on his part. His voice held power and I could feel the power radiating off of him. I could feel the dragons he had, and they would be a good test for Empyrean.

"And I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain."

"Ah, I have heard many things about Norman's daughter. I must congratulate you for coming this far. It is very rare for a challenger to face me here; Glacia tends to be the one to finish any trainer off that makes it past Sydney and Phoebe." He shook his head as a chuckle passed his lips. "So this is a rare treat for me."

"Glad you think so." I grinned and pulled out Empyrean's pokeball. "You ready for one of the most amazing battles ever?"

"I'm always ready," Drake grinned and I saw he had hidden one of his eyes, but I could feel his power growing. "So show me what you got, kid."

"Oh, it's _so_ on!" I threw out Empyrean's pokeball and she emerged and roared out over the battlefield. The air got intense as it turned out this was going to be a battle of the dragons. Drake smirked at me before he pulled out his own pokeball and threw it out.

"Go Altaria!" Out came the flying and dragon type pokemon that Mattie also had on his team. I remembered that this one was a bit of a pain when I faced it last time with Acey as a vibrava, but this time, I'm facing it with Empyrean.

I couldn't help but laugh at the size difference, but I knew that size would not make the difference. I've faced many battles where my pokemon have been smaller but they still pulled through. My example was always Silky, who was very small compared to all of my pokemon.

But this wasn't the time to focus on that. It was time to focus on beating Drake.

"First move goes to the challenger." Drake motioned to me and I smirked and looked over at Empyrean.

"Let's start this off right, girl! Use blizzard!" My ancient pokemon roared out before snow suddenly appeared around her body and was then blasted toward the pokemon on the other side of the field, taking over the air with an icy breeze. The altaria screeched and flew out of the way of the attack and circled around in the air before getting nicked on the side of its wing by Empyrean's attack. The flying and dragon type cried out before it had to land from the heavy ice covered edge of its wing.

"Altaria! Use flamethrower on your wing and get back up into the air!" Drake was quick to give out his command, but Empyrean wasn't about to let up.

"Attack, Empyrean!"

"Redirect!"

The two attacks then came crashing into each other before a monstrous explosion of the attacks of fire and ice collided. The altaria was thrown back from the attack and then was able to fly in the air. The ice was melted off of its wing, but I saw that the pokemon had taken some damage from the attack. Meanwhile, Empyrean seemed to be fine for the most part, other than a small bit of bruising I saw on the end of her tail that protected her from the blast, not to mention that Empyrean's defense was pretty high.

"Don't let it have a break, Empyrean! Use thunder!" Storm clouds appeared overhead and suddenly many bolts of lightning appeared over our heads. Empyrean cried out and the lightning all flew after the altaria and it screeched out as it tried to avoid the attacks. As the two of them were racing around the room, Empyrean let out a sudden cry and the lightning suddenly hit the altaria with a speed I'd never seen before. The other dragon cried out in pain before falling to the ground. Even with it stranded on the ground, it still struggled to get up and face Empyrean.

_Well… as much as I hate to attack a hurt opponent, it's still standing, and unless it's called back, I can't hold back…_

"Alright Empyrean, finish it off with-"

"Stop!" Drake was quick to rush out onto the field and take hold of his pokemon's body against his own. "Altaria is barely able to stand, she is done."

I nodded and halted my command before I could utter another. With a quick word to his pokemon, he then returned her to her pokeball. I saw him quickly pull out another one and toss it out.

"Let's go, Flygon!" Out came a red and dark green version of Acey that cried out and flew into the air. So far his dragons were only giving us a little trouble. I smirked as another challenger emerged and Empyrean was quite happy to see this as well. She bared her teeth at them in a taunting manner.

"All right, Empyrean, start out this time with surf!" Empyrean pulled water from the air and used it to create a large wave behind her that went surging forward toward the other pokemon. The flygon cried out and sped around the waves that went crashing down around the field before soaking into the ground. I could taste how dry the air was now, and it actually made it harder to concentrate since I could feel the moisture evaporating out of my tongue. It made my mouth really dry…

_Hopefully this won't last long then…_

"Now use dragonbreath!" A small beam of a fiery blast shot out of the pokemon's mouth toward my own. Empyrean seemed unconcerned about the attack and let it hit her. Drake seemed to be pleased about the attack hitting, but it quickly turned to a frown when he saw that it had done little damage.

"Now you fight back girl! Use outrage!" I was taking a risk using this move. It greatly tires my pokemon, but in return gives her incredible power that she uses to continuously attack. Empyrean's body glowed a dark set of colors of black, purple and red before she screeched out and rushed toward the flygon. Her tail is what struck first, it hit hard and fast the middle of the pokemon before it was thrown way off to the side. Empyrean did not wait for the pokemon to get up however, she simply just took off toward it again as it came out of the hole in the wall and slammed it right into another one.

I could hear its cries as it was left inside the wall before it somehow got out another time. The pokemon could barely stand as wobbled out of a hole for the second time. It seemed like it was on its last leg of strength. Empyrean however, didn't wait for it to make another move before she threw it into a third wall and it then appeared down. It couldn't get up anymore and was looking toward Drake with disappointment all over its features. It was disappointed in itself for failing Drake.

Drake seemed just as frustrated on the other side of the field. He hadn't called many commands, but that was due to the fact that he just didn't have a chance. His pokemon were already down and out before he could call out an order.

He returned his flygon before pulling out another pokeball, throwing it out. "Let's go Kingdra!"

The dragon that was also a water type soon came forward, although how it could fight on dry land was confusing to me. I simply shrugged. Somehow it was able to balance itself on its tail, but that wouldn't be for long.

"Take it out!"

Empyrean raced forward with her outrage attack still in play as she slammed her body into the other pokemon and threw the two of them both into the wall together. It was knocked out in a single hit. I was shocked at that, I would have never through it would take a single hit to take one of their pokemon out.

"Wow…" My eyes went wide as Drake was forced to return his third pokemon and Empyrean's attack finally wore off.

"My dragons… how could they fall so easily?" Drake looked so stumped on the other side of the field, but he still looked just as intimidating, and I could still feel the power radiating off of him. Those other three pokemon must have been newer or not as well trained, but his last one, I could tell, was going to be a good and long one. "You… you must be destined to be our next champion."

"Even so, I hope I get to face that last pokemon of yours." I grinned at him. "I can feel its power from here, and I know its _way_ more powerful than the pokemon you've sent me up against thus far."

He chuckled from across the room. "You are still a child… I should have expected some acting like this… always thinking of the battle…" He shook his head. "But regardless of a child or adult… this feeling is mutual. I feel honored to face your mightily legendary dragon of the sky: Rayquaza, but I am no match for her might as she had reigned over this world since the dawn of time itself. I will not win this battle, but I will fulfill the craving we both carry!" He pulled out a worn pokeball before he threw it out onto the field. "Let us end this with our most powerful match ever Salamence!"

Finally the beast appeared, and even Empyrean took much interest in it as she watched it appear. It was large in size; four stubby like legs were coming out of its body with a thick set of wings extending out of its back. It had a longer neck coming out of its body with a decent-sized head that seemed to have three spikes coming out of it on either side. Its claws were quite sharp, and it had a grey underbelly with a mid-tone blue body. Its wings, small patches on its long neck, and its eyebrows were a bright orangey red in color.

I quickly pulled out my pokedex to find out about this pokemon_. Salamence, the dragon pokemon and the evolved form of shelgon. After many long years, its cellular structure underwent a sudden mutation to grow wings. When angered, it loses all thought and rampages out of control. It destroys everything with shredding claws and fire. There are no known salamence nests in this region._

_So this is the evolved form of Aria's shelgon…_ I took a brief moment to look up to the crowd and watch the red haired friend of mine gape down at the pokemon on the other side of the field. I could see her fascination, which drew her away from her work for only a few moments before she was back at it again. I turned back to the field. Empyrean was grinning as she looked at her opponent.

"All right, Empyrean, start off with thunder and see how well this pokemon handles your attack." I wasn't sure just how powerful this pokemon was, so I started out with a move that wasn't going to be strong or even normal in strength against it. Dragons normally aren't hurt by electric attacks, so I was surprised with the last move when Empyrean and I took out that kingdra with that kind of attack. I didn't want Empyrean's hopes to get up because it wasn't as powerful as we initially thought.

"Stand your ground." It sounded like more than just an order. From what I could hear from Drake's voice, there was pride being staked on this move making a dent in the pokemon on the other side of the field. His pride had been more then humiliated; his only pokemon putting up a half decent fight were his altaria and maybe his flygon. Empyrean tossed them aside with no problem, but how would this one fare?

I watched as Empyrean cried out and the attack crashed down on the salamanece and I watched as it really did 'hold its ground' under the lightning. My eyes widened when I saw the beast grin over at us before it roared and threw the lightning off of its body and made it crash into the ground around it. Not a scratch was on that salamence and I felt sheer excitement ignite in Empyrean and myself. I felt my eyes go wide and my grin do the same in insane passion.

"Charge!" My beast flew forward at the command and harshly threw her head at the salamence's head. Their two heads hit off each other and I felt the power of the tremor they created in the air and the ground. It was all shaking with uncontrollable power. My hair was whipping past me, and so was Drake's coat.

_Oh this was just what we were looking for!_

"Salamence! Dragon rage!"

"You too, Empyrean!"

The two pokemon suddenly unleashed the powerful moves and I could hear people in the stands screaming. Was the attack affecting them too? I quickly turned my head and saw that Violet was there, she was in her changeling form and awaiting on the railing separating the crowd so many feet up from the battlefield. Gwyn jumped up right after her with the other changelings that sat in the crowd and waited in case of any danger that would rush toward the innocent.

I turned my eyes back then to the battle just as the attack pushed both pokemon back a few feet before exploding and blasting back in their faces. Both pokemon roared out at each other and raced back to slam their heads together. I could feel the power of their might and it just sent so many shivers up my spine of excitement… I couldn't help but feel a demonic grin plaster itself to my face.

This is the kind of battle that we've wanted for a long time!

"Empyrean! Surf!" My beast then summoned the water in the air and it came together as a wave before it slammed into the ground and pushed back the opposing pokemon.

"Fire blast, Salamence!" The blast countered the water and quickly evaporated into the air again. The two pokemon ended up on either side of the room once more, glaring at each other.

"Steel wing!"

"Counter with iron tail!"

Our two pokemon then raced forward and clashed again- Empyrean's tail with Salamence's wing. It was incredible to watch the two powerful dragons clash in battle with the many different types of moves they knew. Not to mention that the battle had also presented a second battle between myself and Drake, a battle of pride. He'd been shamed too many times with how easily we were able to take down the rest of his team, and he knows that he will not win, but regardless of that, he plans to restore his team's honor by having Salamence battle full force and give as much damage as possible to Empyrean before the battle was over, before I faced the champion. Little did he know that I still had two more pokemon who had yet to even battle.

I had my strategy set where a specific pokemon would face against most or all of a team, depending on the Elite Four member's type preference and my own pokemon in comparison: Blade for dark types, Darkness for ghost types, Acey for ice types and Empyrean for dragon types. I planned to use Silky when I faced the champion and Blaze was my trump card, in case something happened, such as one of my team going down.

Or if I became champion and someone made it to me… like Mattie…

I was suddenly brought back to the battle as the pokemon clashed once more with the same metallic attacks they had over their body. The battle seemed to be lasting forever, and while I always wanted a powerful opponent to make my pokemon proud of the battle, I was getting a bit nervous with this one. Salamence was quite a powerful rival; it would make for a good sparring partner, whether it be this one or Aria's when her shelgon evolves, but right now, it was becoming a bit of a pain in the ass as we were only inches away from the champion's door.

_We had to end things now if we ever wanted to keep going!_ I swore as I looked up to where the two pokemon were still clashing. Empyrean smashed her tail one more time before the two of them threw each other back to their correct sides of the field, respectively next to their trainers and the metallic coating on their wings or tail were gone.

"Empyrean! This has gone on long enough! Finish that pokemon off with draco meteor!"

"Counter it with draco meteor as well, Salamence!"

My eyes widened as the ceiling above us turned into a night sky as fire coated boulders came crashing down onto the battlefield. Everyone was cheering and screaming as the last two attacks came down and crashed heavily into our two pokemon. I could hear their cries as the boulders hit them and I watched as the two dragons finally fell. The crowd gasped, as did Drake and I. We watched from the distance in shock as the attacks were cut off as both pokemon were no longer able to stand.

My eyes widened and both hands raced to cover my mouth. Empyrean was down…

But she didn't go down without a fight. I looked over to the other side of the field and saw that the salamence was in about the same position as Empyrean, knocked out cold.

"Both pokemon are unable to battle! The victor of this battle is Jezebel Emery-Twain!" the ref called out. "She moves on to face the champion!"

The crowd then went up into cheers and Violet finally calmed down enough to smile at me and release her changeling form once the battle was over. The others did as well and my family was quick to head for the next room, which, from the way the door opened magically on its own, was a bit of a walk from here.

"I guess that's it for me, then…" Drake sighed as he then grinned at me. "Thank you for that battle, Jezebel; now go face our champion. At the end of the hall, take the stairs up to the highest floor and you should be at the door that leads to his battleground. On the way there, I would prepare your pokemon for that fight."

I finally pulled myself out of my shocked trace and nodded to him. I returned Empyrean and gave the man a smile before walking past him. I didn't have to say anything, and for that, I was grateful. I strode through the now open doors that led me toward the final battle I would be facing (most likely, anyway) against the champion of this region.

Closed-in stone walls greeted me before the doors to Drake's room behind me closed and I was left in the dim passageway lit by torches left on the walls. I slowly walked forward, taking my time and thinking over the events that took place. Empyrean… she lost… well, I should say tied, but I was entirely shocked by that. Who would have thought that the salamence would prove so much of a match for her that they would tie in strength and both collapse? It was something that had never happened before; it shocked me just as much as when Luna beat Blade back months ago in Mauville City. As much as it shocks me, it's refreshing to know that there are some areas where we need to improve, and apparently dragon on dragon fighting for Empyrean is definitely one of them. We would work on it after we got through the Pokѐmon League, but for now…

I looked up ahead at the spiral staircase that seemed to go on endlessly. A small breath escaped my lips as a sigh and I took my first step up.

_I had a champion to face… and beat._

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a good while later before I arrived at the location where my final battle against the Pokѐmon League would take place. The stone pathway I'd been walking on for a while now opened up to a large room made of white stone. The battlefield itself was actually quite strange, it seemed that tunnels had been dug in the floor and filled up with water while white stone made up some areas of the supposed ground (even with us so high up in the air), so land- and water-dwelling Pokemon could take part in this battlefield.

On the other end of the room was a man dressed in dark violet pants, white shoes and a white and blue long sleeved top. A white cape was hung over his shoulders and a white hat was on the top of his head with small bits of his turquoise colored hair let out. His eyes were the same color as his hair and he seemed a bit fancier then most of the trainers that I'd battled before. He kind of reminded me of Juan, the last gym leader I'd faced.

"Ah, so you're Miss Jezebel Emery-Twain. I was wondering when I would be meeting you here." The man used his hands as he talked to me in an elegant sort of manner. I simply blinked at him while I heard many apparent fans of his shouting in the crowd. "I am Wallace Orabelle, the champion of this region!" He gave me a light bow before his eyes sparkled at me. "I have to say, I'm quite impressed and very grateful for the work you did in my home town of Sootopolis during the events of awakening the legendary beasts. It is thanks to you that not only my home, but the entire region- no, the entire world- is safe from destruction. For that you have my sincere thanks."

"It wasn't an issue." I waved it off a bit, but I could help the smile forming on my face. "I was more than happy to help, but I still need to go after Rose."

"Yes, I imagine so after all that horrific woman had done to your family." Wallace shook his head before he pulled out a pokeball. "But now is not the time to dwell on such matters. Here we are to find out if you are worthy of my title. Just the fact that you are here proves that, but can you beat me and take it?"

"We… we'll find out!" I pulled out my own pokeball and threw it out. "Let's go, Silky!" My shiny beautifly soon appeared before me with her wings shimmering in the light. Wallace gaped at her beauty before he shook his head.

"Let me see the grace of your pokemon, the most amazing battle of my life!" He threw out his own pokeball. "Show her your beauty Tentacruel!"

From his pokeball I saw the pokemon I often saw on water routes, a tentacruel. Its massive jellyfish shaped body was blue with bright red gem like crystal throughout its head and grayish tan tentacles coming out of its body. It landed in the water and glared over at Silky.

_This was going to be a bit tricky then._ I looked over at the pokemon with a pout. _Silky couldn't take it out in a single move because it was also a poison type in addition to a water one; it would be a long-lasting fight indeed._

Wallace turned up to the stands. "With this being such an amazing battle, will one of you two champions like to referee please?"

"Hell yeah!" Violet cheered before she turned to her sister champion. "You want this battle?"

"Sure, I'll take this one." Gwyn was quick to jump down from the stands and stand on the ref box between us. Two flags were in her hands and she lifted them into the air. "This battle is to protect or earn a championship, you two; make it one we'll all remember."

"I plan on it, Gwyn." I turned back to my pokemon. "All right, Silky, let's start out with gust! See if we can rip it out of that water!" My pokemon complied and sent a vortex of air flying in the direction of the pokemon that sucked it out of the water and into the air. I couldn't help but giggle as the pokemon flew in the air and seemed to get quite dizzy from all the spinning.

"Tentacruel!" Wallace cried out to his pokemon. "Use whirlpool and break free!"

I watched as the Pokémon summoned water from below in the opposite direction of the twirling to free itself from the air and to get it back down to the ground where it wouldn't be so open to attacks.

I snickered at the attempt to free his pokemon. "I'm not going to give you time to free yourself! Silky! Solarbeam on the whirlpool!"

"No!"

The water would intensify the power of the grass type move as they came and hit the opposing pokemon. I watched as Silky summoned up the grass type move before her and screeched when she let it loose on the whirlpool and hit his pokemon. The whirlpool absorbed the attack and then blew up on the tentacruel before it fell onto the ground, but I saw that it was just barely hanging in there, just like I predicted.

I could hear the crowd, and they were either very or not overly pleased with this. At least half of the crowd was fans of Wallace, while the other half seemed to be in my favor. They were screaming cries of joy and anger, I didn't know if I should be weary or happy. I watched as Violet from the stands just brushed off their cries and I watched her shrug. She grinned down at me, giving me the encouragement to keep moving forward.

"All right Silky, let's put that pokemon out of its misery! Finish it off with aerial ace!" My pokemon cheered before circling into the air and shooting herself at the enemy pokemon as it gasped for breath from the intense battle. Silky's body crashed into it and it cried out before it was sent into a wall. Its eyes turned and it let out a sigh before it had given up the fight.

"You fought well Tentacruel; I'm sorry I couldn't help you out more. We will work on this later." Wallace returned his pokemon while Silky and I were cheering on the other side of the field. One of his pokemon was down; that meant one more step closer to the championship for us! "Now here comes my next pokemon; let's take her out Ludicolo!"

It was one of Casey's pokemon I now saw on the field. I watched as it seemed to dance around while it was watching me and Silky. Now, I knew with this pokemon, that if I hit it hard enough, it was possible to take it out with one move due to it being also a grass type and Silky knowing flying type moves and also being a flying type. I just wondered which move would work best.

But I also needed to plan for the future as well. His other water types might be more powerful then Silky could handle with just the normal power of her moves, it might be better to also have one of her most powerful attacks at the ready in case she needed it.

"All right Silky, let's start off with sunny day!" My beautifly was quick to jump into the air and shoot a ball of light from her mouth into the very ceiling. It stuck there and let loose a bright light that covered the entire field, almost blinding some people. Wallace had to cover his eyes as he looked but quickly turned back to me with a grin on his face.

"And what is that move for, my dear? Grass type moves won't work on my ludicolo."

"Who says I was using a grass type move right now? Maybe I was just setting up for the future?" Wallace went silent at that while I grinned and looked over at Silky. "Start off with gust and then kick it out with aerial ace!"

Silky followed through without a second thought; she flapped her wings like her life depended on it and threw another tornado at the other side of the field. Wallace hardly had enough time to catch his bearings before his pokemon was whipped away from him and thrown around in the air. I grinned as the pokemon looked to have taken damage from the wind and also gotten quite dizzy as Silky then sped in and crashed into it with her body and threw the ludicolo out of the gust attack and into a wall. I watched as the pokemon landed there and was also out.

_That was two; his pokemon are going down a lot faster than I thought, but that just gives me time to prepare for my real treat…_

"I'm sorry, Ludicolo. I have failed you, but I will try to fix that in the future." Wallace returned him and looked quite pissed that I was smirking the other side of the field and that he already had two pokemon down. "But now come on out, Whiscash!"

I blinked at the pokemon that Wallace sent out next, it a ground and water type, a whiscash. I couldn't help but feel my eyebrow unconsciously rise when I saw the pokemon and after all that I'd set up that he'd sent out that type of pokemon against my own… it made me wonder…

"I hope you have some sort of amazing plan in your head, because this is the worst match-up." I shook my head as I looked at the match-ups. I know you normally should make assumptions just based on the type, but the way this was looking with how he's been failing thus far and the type match-up and how I set up the field… this wasn't looking good for him. _Did he forget my pokemon knows…?_ I snorted a laugh as Wallace just looked at me strangely.

"Whether I do or don't, you'll just have to wait and see it. Now, Whiscash, knock that bug pokemon out of the sky with surf! Wet down its wings!" I watched as the pokemon suddenly called upon all the water in the room and sent it flying over Silky in a wave before crashing down over her.

I could only grin as I looked at the attack. "Fly right through it with aerial ace!" My bug pokemon grinned and spun in the air to get some more air under her wings before she darted upward and the air circled around her body to protect her from the water as she shoved through it toward the pokemon on the other side. She slammed into its side, but as I figured, it wouldn't do any damage. Silky then flew back up into the air and out of the reach as the attack came back again to try and hit her once more. When it missed, I watched as the pokemon seemed a bit irritated.

"Keep it up, Silky!" I couldn't help but laugh at their irritation.

"Damn you…" I could just barely hear it on the air; Wallace seemed to be a bit irritated with me as well since three of his pokemon would soon fall to my pokemon. It was fun to play around, but I needed to keep moving on, and in case he had a pokemon that had the advantage over Silky, I didn't want to take chances with her. While she was very powerful, she was the weakest of my pokemon (as much as I hate to say that… I hate to say that about any of my pokemon…)

"All right Silky! It's time to finish this up! Use solarbeam!" My pokemon flew up to the air above the whiscash's waves and summoned light from the sun she'd made and suddenly shot out a beam of bright green light at the Whiscash! It cried out as the attack hit, and Wallace watched as the waves sank and the pokemon was thrown from the water into the wall behind him. Wallace turned and saw that the third pokemon of this team had fallen as well.

I saw Wallace about to make a comment about how mad he was until he looked over at me and my beautifly. He saw her wings glittering in the light of the sun and some of the sparkles floating in the air. It was gorgeous, if I do say so myself. He was momentarily stunned by the sheer beauty of it. While my beautifly may have been (and I still hate to admit this) the weakest of my pokemon, she made up for it with her charm and beauty, allowing her to take her opponent's attention and fire it back in their face.

Wallace was still too stunned and frozen by Silky before him, but jeering from the fans brought him back to his focus. He flinched at their tones and cries of worry and anger and it quickly returned his pokemon and pulled out another pokeball. "Let's see how your beautifly handles the power of my water dragon! Let's go Gyarados!"

Out of his next pokeball came the water dragon he spoke of, a blue version of Gwyn's shiny gyarados. Its massive jaws and teeth could take Silky in one bite. Its eyes glared down at her as if she was the most pathetic pokemon in the world right now, but that wasn't about to stop us.

Besides, just for situations like this, I helped Silky learn a new move to deal with brutes like these.

"Take to the sky, Silky; stay out of its reach!" My beautifly was quick to let the air carry under her wings and she rushed to the ceiling while the beast remained on the ground with its tail dipping in and out of certain pools of water to stay slightly wet.

"And now, Gyarados, we attack! Use aqua tail!" The tail swung out from the pools below, coated thickly in water that was constantly flowing over the gills. Silky cried out as she tried to avoid the tail that swung at her, but that tail was too fast. It reminded me a bit of Scarlet, Gwyn's shiny gyarados. I'd seen some of the battles she'd preformed in on the TV, her gyarados, despite being so large, had quite a quick swing of that tail. I was actually surprised that Silky was able to last so long with it-

I was caught off guard when Silky was suddenly hit by the tail, causing everyone to cry out. My pokemon had yet to be really hit until now, and it was shocking to all. I could hear the cries of others, mostly Wallace's fans that were rooting for him that he finally got a hit on my pokemon. The other ones cheering seemed to be that of my friends and family, their cries were almost as strong as the ones that were sided with Wallace, even if their numbers didn't match up. Their cries were for Silky to keep flying, even as the tail of the gyarados was swinging at her over and over again.

"Silky!" I couldn't help but pointlessly cry out for her. She was being slapped around madly. I watched as she was hit on one side before she was hit the other. It seemed like a fun game to the pokemon and I didn't like it very much… I guess this is how my opponents fell when they face me, like they're being played with. Oh well… that's just the way we play I guess.

"Silky! Psychic!" Her eyes instantly lit up and attacked the gyarados' mind. It screeched out and its tail fell while Silky evaded it and flew up toward the sun.

"Damn it!" A curse slipped out of Wallace's mouth as he watched his pokemon and his fans gasped, but he was too lost in the battle to respond to the way they were acting.

"Now Silky, take this moment and use morning sun!" By using the sun above, the attack was much quicker and Silky was able to absorb energy into her body which she then used to heal her wounds. With her body back nearly in tip top shape, she raced out of the way when a tail went to strike her again.

"No!" Wallace's only damage that he had done to Silky was gone, and now it was time to retaliate.

"Psychic!" Silky let out another attack onto the pokemon's mind and it screeched out again. It thrashed about as Silky played and messed with its head and the gyarados weakly glared at Silky, its power decreasing as she battled it.

"Hyper beam!" Wallace called out the move and the gyarados screeched and threw out its attack. It blasted into the wall as Silky kept up her attack and flew around in the air to avoid the hyper beam. Her attack never faltered while all of this took place.

"Keep it up, Silky!"

"No, take it out Gyarados! I know you can do it!" Wallace cried out of desperation. "Use ice fang!"

"Silky! Move!" As the super effective move came closing in on my pokemon, she let her attack go and she glided through the air as the gyarados came after her. She kept avoiding the attack very well with a few feet of distance separating them before the gyarados suddenly lunged forward and brought its icy fangs down on Silky's body. "SILKY!"

My pokemon screeched as she fell to the ground with a thick coating of ice on her wings and around the middle of her body. It weighed her down so she was unable to fly. My poor pokemon weakly stood before the gyarados, only looking to be about the size of its tooth.

"It's over for this pokemon now, Jezebel!" Wallace had a grin set upon his face again and called out his next command. "End it with iron head!" I saw a metallic coating cover the top of Wallace's gyarados' head. It threw its head in toward her and Silky watched in fear as it approached.

"Silky! Use psychic!" With a last ditch effort, Silky threw out one of the only attacks she could with her wings trapped. The attack she used hit the gyarados and it cried out in pain before it flinched and slowed its attack to a halt before falling to the ground. Silky quickly used the same attack on her wings and freed herself and jumped into the air near the sun before she used morning sun. With her wounds mostly healed, she watched Wallace on the other side of the field and waited for his final pokemon.

_We were so close! Just one last pokemon!_

"You are elegant, infuriatingly so!" Wallace looked torn between anger and love on the other side of the battlefield as he returned his gyarados. "And yet, you and your pokemon are gorgeous! The last time I had a battle like this… it was against the champion before me, Steven Stone."

I blinked at that with wide eyes. Steven was the last champion? When I met him in Dewford, he didn't seem much like a champion- more like a soul searcher who prefers nature and life over humans and their cities. But I guess anyone can be fooled. I mean, Violet and Gwyn are both very different as champions, each with their own personality.

"But I believe its time you faced the last of my pokemon to see if you are still going to beat me without another pokemon. Face my final and most powerful pokemon!" He threw out an old and worn pokeball. "Go, Milotic!"

I was shocked when I saw a majestic beast appear before me. It had a very long body, reminding me of Empyrean, but its body looked smooth and sparkled, as well as had colorful scales. Colorful scales of a pale red and lighter blue were made up into a tail before it got to the middle of its body and turned entirely tan that went up to the top of its head. I saw lots of scales that seemed to hang off the body and cascade down the sides of its face like hair, which was a darker red then the pale one on the tail.

I quickly pulled out my pokedex to see what I was exactly facing. _Milotic, the tender pokemon and the evolved form of feebas. It is said to live at the bottom of large lakes. Considered to be the most beautiful of all pokemon, it has been depicted in paintings and statues. It has the power to becalm such emotions as anger and hostility to quell bitter feuding. There are no known milotic nests in this region._

_Well this should be interesting… never faced one of these before…_ I looked at the opposing pokemon as it lifted its tail and smirked at me. _I still had the advantage over the pokemon. It was only a water type, so my grass type moves would work wonderfully on it. I also have the sunny day still in effect, so solarbeam and morning sun are still going to be really fast. But I'm not sure what that pokemon is holding back…_

"Ice beam, Milotic!" Ice promptly fired out of the pokemon's mouth and shot right at Silky. She screeched and took off into the air to avoid being hit.

"Silky! Dive!" My pokemon followed my orders and went lower in the air as it rounded around and approached the pokemon. "Stun spore!" She kicked up and threw glittering yellow powder at the milotic and I watched it breathe in the fumes. Its body choked up and cringed and I watched as electricity started to flow over its body. I grinned as the attack took effect. "Yes!"

"Milotic!" Wallace cried out.

"Now Silky! Hit it with solarbeam!" My pokemon cried out and she threw the powerful attack at the pokemon and it hit head on. It cried out and I watched it take some extensive damage, but I was shocked to see that it actually was still standing. "What the hell?"

Wallace then grinned. "It's Milotic's special ability, marvel scale." He gestured to his pokemon. "When a status affects her, like paralysis that you inflicted, Milotic's defense is increased by more than half of what it already was."

"Slam it then, Silky; it's already weakened!" Wallace was shocked as I glared at him. "Silver wind!"

"Freeze it with blizzard!" The two attacks collided and I watched as the silver wind froze in midair and the blizzard still raced past to get to Silky.

"Dodge it!" My pokemon was quick to move and fly high out of the way of the blast and make her way toward the sun flying above where it was warm. Any ice that came close was melted then by the sun. Wallace snorted as he pointed up at the sun.

"Knock that sun out of the sky, Milotic! Hydro pump!" The pokemon cried out as it fired away and knocked out the sun above us with its water attack. The glowing ball of fire faded away and was no longer around. It would have faded soon anyway, but this is what I wanted. The milotic couldn't move much at all right now, and that was all because of the fact that he just used hydro pump. Pokѐmon need some time to recover after that attack.

"Silky! Solarbeam!" Without the sun to help her, it took longer to charge up her attack, but with the milotic recovering, she had the time.

"NO!" Wallace cried out, but it was too later. The attack was unleashed by my pokemon, and soon enough the milotic was hit. It cried out as the bright beam of green light hit dead on its body and face and threw it back from the battlefield. Its defense may have been higher, but that didn't mean that it wasn't vulnerable to my attacks anymore. The body of the pokemon was thrown off the ground and I watched as it landed into the wall. Everyone gasped as they saw the pokemon lie there before it fell out of the wall and onto the ground, half into the water and just lying there. Wallace stood stunned as his favorite and final pokemon was down for the count.

"Milotic is unable to battle! The winner is Silky and the victor is Jezebel Emery-Twain of Petalburg City!" Gwyn was quick to cry out. "We have a new champion for the Hoenn region!" The crowd went roaring in cheers, even some of Wallace's fans seemed to accept the loss and no longer did I hear the jeers from the crowd.

I was grinning madly as my poor beautifly slowly made her way over to me. I rushed out onto the field and took her into my arms while my team released themselves from their pokeballs. We all cheered and I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my mouth as I was thrown about by my pokemon.

"Congratulations are in order for you, Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain." Wallace soon approached me and took my hand in his, shaking it. "I was defeated mercilessly. Your moves were all thought out well; I should have taken out that sun to give myself a better chance."

"Thanks, but its Silky and my other pokemon who did all the real work." I grinned as I looked at them. They were the ones that kept me pushing to come this far; without them, I know I wouldn't have made it here."

"Well, regardless, a party will be held in your honor, but in the meantime, I'd suggest you'd get your pokemon healed and be prepared for your next battle." I blinked at him as he grinned. "Now that you are the champion, any that travel as far as Drake should make you prepare, and your friend, Matthew Ashling, is hot on your heels. Look there."

I watched him point to a screen off to the side behind where Gwyn stood. I watched as a video appeared and showed Mattie using Kaida to fight off the dragons in the room before this one. I laughed as I watched him demolishing Drake's team and crippling his salamence.

It wouldn't be long now…

"I need to heal my pokemon and change over this battlefield to a normal one to work better with my pokemon, at least for now, until more can be changed later on. Can it be done before he arrives?" I heard many responses as a team of workers came quickly out onto the field and started moving around pieces and taking out the water. I grinned. A normal battlefield would work. I didn't need a special one to battle Mattie; he was already special as a trainer and would make the battle amazing regardless.

"This way Champion Jezebel, you can heal your pokemon over here." Wallace led me off to the side as the workers busied themselves with the field. I quickly returned my team and set them on the machine to heal them as I waited on the young man I'd fallen in love with to face me here, on this final leg.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a good twenty minutes later and the field was complete, filled with dirt and smoothed over as a simple battlefield should be. In time I would make it a bit more adapted for my pokemon to work with, adding in fewer lights, maybe flame torches, more rocks… something to say Jezebel Emery-Twain's team battlefield. I would decide on that later, but for now, I had to… uphold my title… _wow it feels so strange saying that…_

I watched as he appeared. He seemed worn a bit from the consistent battling, breathing a bit heavier, but otherwise there was a smile on his face. When his eyes met mine, I swear we were locked in an intense gaze while the world around us seemed to vanish.

"I'm glad that you made it this far, Mattie. I hope you're ready for a battle to see which one of us in the strongest, and who deserves the title of Hoenn Champion more."

"I know who deserves it more, Jezebel, but I'm still going to try and beat you!"

I blinked in surprise at his response, but shook it off as I pulled out my emerald pokeball. "Alright then, let's get this started! Go Empyrean!" Out came my ancient beast of the sky and she roared out at Mattie. I saw his eyes go wide, but he stood his ground and out came a sapphire pokeball.

"Go Poseidon!" Out came the ancient beast of the water, and it roared as it hovered in the air. The two of them were massive, and it was a good thing that the field was large or else we wouldn't be able to use them.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Blizzard!"

The two attacks were called out and quickly clashed, snow hitting lightning. Small offshoots of the attacks got by as the attack exploded in midair, but that didn't stop the two legendary beasts from going right back at it.

"Solarbeam!" Empyrean was quick to whip around her tail to throw off some of the snowy attack before charging up and screaming out the grass type attack. It shot straight at the water type.

"Use thunder!" The electric attack surprised me as the two attacks clashed once more. The two pokemon were pushed back. The attacks were just getting stronger; I had to turn it up to full power and see how he responds.

"Use draco meteor!" Empyrean cried out and suddenly there were many meteors that were dropping from a starry sky appeared over our heads and came crashing down.

"Counter with sheer cold, Poseidon!" I was shocked at the cold move that quickly seeped any moisture in the air and froze it around Empyrean and the two attacks landed on their marks with incredible power being unleashed upon each other.

_There was no reason to hold back and dawdle around. It's all about who's strongest here; it would be a very short battle, but it would prove to us who was stronger between us two. Mattie and I, even if we'd only battled once, had always battled side by side and felt the intense power between us. While I may have beaten him the last time, he did have one up on Blade, and that was something I needed to change. _

The two attacks reached past each other and hit out pokemon dead on. Empyrean was frozen solid and when the ice shattered, she was knocked out cold. Similar things could be said for Poseidon, who was pelted with meteors. He was knocked down to the ground and knocked out as well. The two of us returned our first pokemon before pulling out other pokeballs.

"Go, Corra!"

"Take her out, Darkness!"

The next set of pokemon came out, which showcased a rock and grass type and a ghost type. Both glared at each other before Mattie and I both grinned and threw out our hands.

"Stockpile!" Mattie was quick to call out his order and quickly the pokemon began to eat the battlefield around it and started to gather energy in its body, which I saw was glowing through the muscles of the stomach.

"Don't let it get you, Darkness! Use a combo of fire and shadow punch!" Darkness' fists glowed with power before he charged forward toward the eating pokemon.

I saw Mattie grin then, and my eyes watched him carefully. "Corra! Eat the attack!"

"What?!" I screamed out in surprise as Mattie pulled a fast one on me like that and had his pokemon munching at my pokemon's fists. She actually got a good hold of one before Darkness was more than surprised and let out a deep shriek before fading away from his pokemon.

"Damn!" I hissed as Darkness reappeared next to me, his hand reappeared on his arm, the energy coming back to him while I shook my head. "Well, I guess we're not going to be attacking that way. From a distance, Darkness, use ominous wind!"

Darkness easily got over his fright and laughed at my command before the spirits appeared that were lodged in the other world through his belly.

Mattie cheered on the other side of the field. "Now, Corra! Use spit up!"

I'd never seen many attacks like this before… I flinched as the attack came hurling in. One of them flying right by me and landing right behind my box. I turned back to look at it and saw the rocks that the beast of his had been eating up, but then I saw some sort of dark coating over it…

_Of course! The fire and ghost abilities!_ Remembering back, just a few moments before, Darkness' hand was eaten. _I bet Mattie planned that so his normal type attack would then become a ghost and fire one!_

I watched as the two attacks hit head on and went past one another, Darkness was hit by the spit up flaming ghost rocks and Corra was hit with all the wailing spirits from Darkness' belly. Both pokemon were pushed to the back side of the field before falling to the powerful attacks. It also might have been the field covered in flaming ghost rocks that Corra threw up all about. _Yuck_…

"Thanks, Darkness." I returned him and pulled out the next pokemon. "Take 'em out, Acey!"

Mattie did the same thing. "Let's go, Kaida!"

Both of our dragons (other than Empyrean for me) appeared on the field and were quick to clash before we could even give them an order. They hit each other's heads before they were thrown back from the impact.

"Go Acey! Hyper Beam!"

"Take her out, Kaida! Use sky attack!"

Acey was quickly to suck up energy into her glowing cheeks while Kaida jumped into the air and her body glowed as she flew around Acey in the air. Just as Acey let out her attack, Kaida suddenly dived and threw herself into the attack before slamming back into Acey for the second time in the last couple of minutes. I watched as the two of them were thrown at our feet and my eyes widened. Both were knocked out in a single hit.

_It was becoming more chaotic out here… only one attack now? Incredible…_

I was quick to return Acey and looked at Mattie as he did the same.

"Blade and Guardian won't be fighting against each other, right Jezebel?"

I shook my head at Mattie's question. "No, I won't make them fight each other. That's not fair or right to them." I threw out another pokeball. "Let's go, Silky!"

Out came my beautifly who'd just battled a few moments ago. She was healed and refreshed, but who knows what would happen, and who she would be paired with to fight.

"Let's go, Roza!" Mattie threw out his grass and poison type. "Start off with sludge bomb, Roza!" From the pokemon's flowers I saw purple poisonous sludge be shot out at my pokemon. Silky cried out and quickly jumped in the air and made her way away from it.

"Silky, counter with aerial ace!" My flying pokemon dived in for a direct blow with no slowing down.

"Take it out with poison jab!" I watched as its hands were coated in glowing purple poison before the two pokemon slammed into each other. Silky's body landed on her mark, but at the same time, Roza threw a punch at the side of Silky's face. The two of them fell together into a pile with both of them knocked out from the powerful hits.

_I never knew that Roza knew those kinds of poisonous attacks. Mattie must have done some serious training on his own or with the others when I wasn't around. He was well prepared to cover his bases or try to one up me…_

"Almost down to the wire…" I returned Silky and pulled out one of my last pokeballs. "Go, Blade!"

Mattie threw out his next to last pokemon. "Let's get them, Luna!"

At last, the clash of the two that had brought upon a lot of bitterness appeared. Long ago, Luna had beaten Blade, and he didn't like that at all. It was now time to even the score, or show that the two of them had gotten stronger.

"Take that thing out with psycho cut!"

"Crush it with doubleslap!"

The two of them charged at each other. A light glow came over the sword like arm of Blade's while Luna's tail suddenly turned white from the power coming from it. The two of them rushed in and clashed. A heavy jab to Luna's body while her tail came down on Blade's head. The two of them cried out and were thrown in different directions. Luna was hurled into the wall behind Mattie, creating a massive impact in the wall while Blade was crushed into the ground below. The two of them were knocked out cold…

_Our last pokemon… our starters…_

The last two pokemon we'd used were returned and our starters emerged. Guardian stood ready to protect Mattie and fight with all she had while Blaze took an offensive position before me, ready for an all-offensive attack.

I took one look at Mattie, and suddenly, all the memories that mattered to the two of us flashed before my eyes- of how I met him, how much he meant to me… and how much I loved him, and when I figured it out…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_When Dad was done having his fun, we looked back at the pictures and I couldn't help but laugh at a few of them. We were all over the place with our limbs and bodies and had a good time, which I never remember having before since Mother never allowed me to spend time alone with my father. She hogged me to herself and never let us have much or any of a relationship. _

_When Dad had found one that he liked a lot, he then showed it me to use for a picture that he'd place in the house so he wouldn't be so lonely without me there. With the camera in hand, he hurried to the door and opened it at the front of the gym that I was going to guard until he got back, when we heard a yelp and saw a flash of green before something ran away from the door. _

_I blinked at that, as did my father, who looked back at me. I came up to the doorway and looked outside. Nothing was out there in plain sight, but when I looked off to the side at the end of the entrance of the gym where it headed toward our yard, I saw a young boy, maybe just a tad younger than me. He was extremely white in completion which was bright against his dark green jeans and snow white button up shirt. I saw that his hair was a pale looking light green color, which might have been due to being out of the sun and not getting enough vitamins, and that he had sapphire blue eyes. _

_"Hello?" I called over to the boy who then flinched and hid behind the wall. I hurried after him and looked around the wall to see him on the ground, his knees up to his chest and his shoulder had sunk behind a face hidden in his knees. "Can we help you?"_

_"Ah!" The boy was startled and fell over on his side. He looked up at me in a startled manner before he was frozen at the sight of me. "W-wh-what?"_

_"Are you okay?" I got down onto my knees and took his hand in my own and pulled him up off the ground. "You look like you took a bit of a tumble there."_

_"U-u-uh…. I-I'm ok-okay…" He muttered as he gently pulled his hand from mine. There was nothing to it at all, only bones… he looked so fragile…_

_"Hey, kid! Jez!" My father quickly came around the corner and saw the two of us. His eyes met mine before we both drifted back to look at the boy. "Oh! You must be Matthew Ashling!" My father held his hand out for the boy. "I was wondering when you'd show up."_

_"Is he challenging you, Dad?" The boy's eyes went wide as I turned back to look at my father in question before he shrunk back under our gazes when we looked at him. _

_"No, not at all. Young Matthew here is actually a special case who wanted a pokemon to travel with him and keep him company, since he doesn't have any friends, and maybe become a trainer in the future. I promised him that I could loan him a pokemon so he could capture one in the area, but he also doesn't know how to capture a pokemon."_

_"Do you want me and Casey to go with him then? We don't mind, and it won't take a long time to find Matthew a pokemon for himself." I grinned at him. "It also gives me and Casey an excuse to train and look for more pokemon ourselves. And I can leave a note on the gym door that we'll all be back in a bit or you could take the day off; I don't remember the last time you took one off."_

_"You know what? You're right, Jez." He laughed and pumped his fist. "I can get your trainer card and then spend the rest of my day with you guys!" He ruffled my hair. "I'll see you guys in a bit, then; make sure you get a good pokemon for yourselves and Matthew!" _

_My father left after that, taking off down the road to the pokemon center where he could get my trainer card made up for only a few dollars. As I watched he disappeared from sight and I turned back to Matthew. "So then, Matthew-"_

_"U-uh…" The boy stuttered out. "Y-you can ca-call me Mattie. Th-that's what my fa-family calls me…"_

_"Oh, okay then Mattie." I smiled at him. "Just let me get my friend Casey, and we'll head out and make sure you get an awesome pokemon to take with you."_

_**When I first met him, he was so shy… I swear, a leaf could tap him on the shoulder and he'd have a heart attack. But he was so sweet all at the same time… I couldn't help but adore him.**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"I want yellow!" Aria grabbed the bright yellow colored device before Mr. Stone had the chance to say more. She grinned and turned to me. "You don't mind, do you, Jez?"_

_"Not at all; I prefer green anyway." I took the dark green device inside the box before I slid it over to the boys. Mattie nervously looked at the box and then at Casey. _

_"I-I hope you do-don't mind, Casey… but I kinda w-want the blue o-one…"_

_"Not a problem Mattie; I like red better." Casey then took the bright red device and Mattie took the dark blue one, and it was then that Casey's eyes went wide as he looked at the device. "No way! It's a pokenav!"_

_"Indeed, young man. It seems you're familiar with our most recent product." Mr. Stone pulled out one that he seemed to have on himself and showed it to us. It was black in color. "This is our newest invention for the world, containing wireless phones, maps and other special features. To upgrade from the PC standard phone that we've had for many years, we've upgraded to where we are now wireless and able to talk from almost every location you can think of. There is a section where you can have everyone on speed dial and a place where you can look at maps of certain locations, or make your own maps for inside locations that you may travel in, such as Petalburg Woods, that tend to get most people lost. Another section lets you take photos and videos and another lets you connect to the internet. Of course there are many other features that are on there, but I'll let you four figure them out on their own."_

_"Yes! I've been trying to save up money forever for this!" Aria cried out happily. "Thank you so much!"_

_"Yeah! I've been after one of these too!" Casey pumped his fist in the air. "This is awesome!"_

_"Th-ank you sir…" Mattie said nervously. "Now I can c-call my friends…"_

_"This really helps me out; now I can call my dad and my friends as often as I want." I turned to Mr. Stone. "Thank you. I promise not to let you down."_

_"I know you won't Miss Emery-Twain." The older man smiled. "Now, shall we test and make sure all your models are working correctly?"_

_"I call going to the outside of this building!"_

_"Me too!"_

_Aria and Casey fled the room as fast as their feet could carry them which left Mattie and me with Mr. Stone._

_"Sorry about them."_

_"It's quite all right. It's good to have some friends with energy like that." Mr. Stone laughed. "They honestly remind me of my parents a long time ago, always full of energy and at each other's throat." _

_"Sounds about right."_

_"Jezebel?" I turned my head to Mattie. "Not to b-be rude or anything… but I should head back home a-after this. My uncle must be wondering where I-I am."_

_"No problem; you head out when you think you need to, Mattie. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."_

_"No… I want to be here…"_

_"Well, now that you have a pokenav, you could call him and let him know you'll be heading home so he's not so worried."_

_"Oh… yeah… that would work." He paused for a moment. "Um… Jezebel?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Um… could… could I…"_

_He cut off by the ringing of my phone. I quickly pulled it out and put it up to my ear. "Hello?"_

_"__**It works**__!" I heard Casey shout. "__**I already called home and I'm at the bottom of the building! Come look down at us Jez!**__"_

_I sighed before I let out a laugh. "Those idiots…" I motioned Mattie to follow me and we looked out through the window. The two of them were waving their arms wildly from at the bottom of the building and out the front with one of the business men. _

_"We see you, Casey, Aria. We'll be down in a minute." I hung up before he could say anything. I shook my head and turned back to Mattie. "So what was it you wanted to ask me?"_

_"Oh… uh… nothing Jezebel…"_

_I blinked at in surprise. "Are you sure?"_

_"Yeah…"_

_"Well, okay then." I gave his hand a squeeze and his blush came out again. "Don't be afraid to ask me anything, okay, Mattie?"_

_"O-okay…"_

_**I just loved his little blush that always came to his face when I talked to him. He was so sweet, but it was also fun to make him a bit flustered. It was mean of me, but I couldn't help it… I just wanted any excuse to see the beautiful color in his cheeks… To see him smile… to try and break down the walls that had been put up around him…**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"Mattie, wait!" I raised my head at the shout and looked to the two males that were making their way to Nurse Joy very quickly, or at least one of them was, while the other one was trying to keep up with the first. Upon closer inspection I saw the green and white outfit along with the pale skin and green hair, which actually had a lot more of a shine to it now, and a deeper color, making it a more vibrant grass green. _

_"Is that Mattie?" Casey blinked as he looked ahead. _

_"And who's that with him?" Aria questioned as she and the rest of us watched him walk away from the older man. _

_Without a word, I stood up and hurried my way over to where Mattie was rushing off to. _

_"Uncle! Stop trying to convince me! I-I want to get stronger, and I have to battle the gym leader t-to do that!" His voice was a bit stronger this time; it was a large improvement since the last time I'd seen him. _

_"Mattie?" The boy lifted his head away from the man he was walking away from as he passed off his pokeballs to the nurse. _

_"Jezebel?" I gave the boy the best smile I could muster in the storm of a clouded mind I had. Thankfully, for me that was, he couldn't tell that I was hurting and gave me a wide grin back. "It's so good t-to see you!"_

_"How have you been?" The boy was quick to come up to me and give me a hug, one which I greatly needed and accepted. _

_"I-I've been fine. I-I've been training and getting stronger; no-now I want to face the gym leader in this town…" he looked sadly at the man next to him who bore a resemblance in facial structure and skin tone, but other than that, nothing else. "My uncle refuses to let me try… even through I've al-already beaten Roxanne and Brawly…"_

_"Well then, I think you should be able to give it a try. You never know until you do anyway; you tried becoming a trainer and look how far you've come." I pulled back from the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Here, why don't we do this? I'll battle you and we can prove to your uncle just how strong you've become, that, and I need a good battle and I've wanted to see how Guardian faces off in battle, as well as Roza and Luna."_

_The boy's eyes began to glow in so much excitement, I thought they would burst. "Really?" It was also the clearest and most solid his voice had been in… well, all the time I really knew him. "You'll do that?"_

_"Of course, and this way Blade and Guardian can see how much each other have grown." _

_As if off a cue, the two pokemon released themselves from their pokeballs. Both were in the stages of kirlia after their first evolution. Blade still hated his form and couldn't wait until he evolved, though on the other hand, Guardian seemed to have much fun twirling about before teleporting herself next to Blade and hugging him. He blushed brightly at that, and even Guardian had a bit of color to her face when she pulled back. _

_I couldn't help but snicker at the two, and it felt so good to. "Having fun over there, you two?"_

_Blade quickly pulled back and rubbed the back of his head while he held out his hand for Guardian to take. She did so and Blade took the hand and brought it to his lips. She blushed even more. _

_I felt a light-heartedness come over my heart that felt so warming and dry, countering the storm that slowly was depleting over my head with the help of my wonderful friends and pokemon. "I'll take that as a yes."_

_"Please wait!" I turned my head back to the uncle that had followed Mattie. "I know that Mattie's become stronger since he's been able to travel, but I think he should slow down!"_

_"Uncle! I'm fine!" The shout startled all of us, and I'd never heard Mattie speak with no stuttering or hesitation. He must have been feeling very well to argue, and I've never seen him do that either. _

_"I'm not going to stop him; I'm not his keeper." I shrugged and walked toward the door. "Mattie, if you want that battle, I'll be waiting outside. Let's show your uncle how much you can really do."_

_I turned back briefly to look at the boy who had a stunned look to his face for a moment before he nodded and gave me a determined look. "I'm going to do my best!"_

_**Mattie seemed to be so angry, I never thought I'd see that emotion on his face. He was struggling so hard to make himself stronger and prove to everyone that he could be a trainer, that he didn't have to be looked after constantly. He had a team of pokemon to protect and love him; it's no different than a family. It still was a bit insulting that his uncle didn't seem to give him the chance, but eventually he would, in time…**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"Jezebel?" Mattie was quick to come over to me once the battle was over. "A-are you all right?"_

_"I'm fine. They didn't exactly do anything to me; it was more that I was hurting them." I looked around at the area of the battle; sadly a few trees got part of their branches burned and were still on fire. I turned to Spinner. "You think you could put out those last little things of fire?"_

_"Sur!" He jumped from my shoulder and raced over to the trees and started to fire water attacks at them to put out the fire. While he did that, I turned to Mary. _

_"I'm sorry for singeing a few of your berry trees-"_

_"Oh Jezebel! You saved the berries and our berry farm!" The girl tackled me in a hug that sent us flying into the ground. "Oh, you have no idea how thankful I am! Don't worry about the little burns! We'll cut them off and new branches will grow in the next year's crop! They needed a trimming anyway! And with the help of that evil organization, we don't have to pick most of the berries and can head to the big farmer's market tomorrow and make lots of money so we can keep up with this lovely lifestyle we have! Thank you! Thank you!"_

_"M-mary! Get o-off of her!" Mattie rushed over to pull the older woman off, but sadly his thin, frail arms could do nothing against his older cousin. _

_"Let me help you out there, shrimp." Dustin toward over the smaller boy, that I called my friend, and easily hooked an arm around Mary's waist and threw her up and over his shoulder. She screeched and hit his back when he did that, but he only smiled at us. _

_"I'll take her back to the house and tell the folks the good news; I'll meet you guys back there so we can pack your baskets, Jez." I nodded to him from my spot on the ground and the older male took off with his girlfriend shouting at him the entire time. When he faded from sight, I turned back to Mattie. _

_"H-here Jezebel… l-let me help you up." I took the boy's extended hand and he threw his entire weight into helping me up that when I made it to my feet, he slipped out of my grip and fell himself. My eyes widened and I gasped, hurrying over to the boy. _

_"Mattie! You okay?" The boy nodded and looked up at me with a sad look. "What's wrong?"_

_He shook his head. "It's n-nothing."_

_"Here." I shot out my hand. "At least let me help you up since you fell from helping me up."_

_He took a moment to think the idea over while I waited there for him to decide. After a moment, he finally decided yes because he took a hold of my hand and I yanked him up. He let out a yelp as he was pulled harshly to his feet. _

_"There, all back on your feet." I gave the boy a grin and he smiled at that. _

_"Jezebel?" I blinked at him. "C-can I ask you a question?"_

_"Technically you already did, but sure, ask away." I snorted a laugh and I saw him lightly smile before it slowly vanished and he looked at me worriedly. _

_"I w-was wondering… would you m-mind if I traveled w-with you for a w-while?" I tilted my head almost vaguely to the side at his question. "I-I want to l-learn how to g-get str-ronger… I think I-I can do t-that with you… I… I want-ted to ask you b-back in Rust-boro… but I-I…" his face flushed red with embarrassment, "I d-didn't think you would say y-yes…"_

_"Mattie, relax." The boy dared to look up at me with worried and hurt eyes and I quickly pulled him in for a hug. "I do want you to go with me. I'd love for you to journey with me; you're such a good friend, and I love talking with you, not to mention, you've put up one of the best battles that I've seen in a long time." I snorted a laugh as the boy looked at me stunned, once again. "Matthew Ashling, will you journey with me across the Hoenn region so that we may learn and become some of the best trainers out there?"_

_"Yes!" He raced to hug me again and I laughed as he did so. _

_**He was so thrilled when I asked him to go with me, and to find out that it's what he wanted all along? I always wanted to travel with him, he was such amazing company, not to mention, I didn't think that boy could make me mad if he tried. **_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"Acey! Make us a hole!" My trapinch nodded and suddenly threw her body out the wall and I was quick to grab Mattie's arm and pull him toward the exit that my desert pokemon had made for us. Without another word, I yanked the boy and myself and threw us out of the hole that Acey had made in the wall with her large teeth and fast abilities. Mattie screamed out as we fell and I quickly took hold of the younger boy and forced his body to be curled into mine, his face in my neck and his fossils in my pelvis._

_"This is gonna hurt a-BIT!" I screeched when we made contract with the ground and the boy's fossils crushed into my abdomen. Mattie jumped off me the first chance he had and placed his fossils to the side before checking on me. _

_"A-a-are you a-alright Jezebel?" The boy still seemed to be very shaken by the quick number of events that just took place. Having two fossils shoved into your lower body by another body about the same height and weight as yourself was not as fun as I'm sure some others would make it out to be. I felt some good bruises starting to form, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal or that I couldn't move on from. _

_"I'll be fine; help me up." The boy nodded and quickly jumped up to his feet, but stumbled back down and fell once more on top of me as the tower collapsed behind us. I turned my head back to look at the amazing sight to disperse and disappear. It crashed into the ground and I saw a flash of the underground caves that lie just below where we were, and then the sight disappeared as well from my vision. _

_I shook my head and once the ground had calmed itself, I looked back to Mattie who was flushing intensely from where he had landed. His head had ended up on my chest, exactly where my still developing breasts were. He flew off of me and stuttered worse than when I first met him. A sudden wave of laughter came over me and I burst out laughing. The boy looked at me in surprise and Acey quickly came over to me and helped me up while laughing herself. Once I was in a sitting position, I was able to get a better look at the stuttering boy, who was almost looking at me as if I'd fallen to insanity. _

_"Okay. Let's try that again, if you don't mind Mattie?" He shook his head and kept it ducked in fear of me seeing his ever-growing red blush that had spread all the way down his neck now and was even starting to show on the edges of his hands. It was really hard to keep my laughter down then, but I tried my hardest for the boy who was practically red from head to toe in embarrassment. _

_"S-s-" he had a hard time getting out any words and I had to strain to hear him. "S-s-sorry…"_

_"Mattie, calm down. I'm not mad." The boy took my hand in his and yanked me to my feet, almost stumbling back onto the sandy ground himself if it wasn't for me as an anchor. "It was an accident, no need to freak out on me. You're turning redder then a tomato berry over this." He only seemed to get darker and I worried that he'd start to turn purple next. "Mattie, calm down, you're really starting to worry me here. Do we need to go rest?"_

_"I-I-I…" he stuttered once again. "I-I think I-I need t-to get ou-out of t-th-this desert…"_

_"Then let's get you out of here then, no need to cook you like an entrée." I helped the boy grab his fossils and place them in his bag before I led him toward the northern exit of the desert. "Let's head up north to see if the passage way to Lavaridge is open, and if not, we'll take a rest over at Fallarbor Town."_

_Mattie nodded while still slightly hiding behind his green hair. "O-o-okay…"_

_**Mattie really had me laughing, but scared all at the same time with how red he got out in the desert. The heat must have not been helping him as he blushed heavily from the embarrassment of landing on my breasts. Not like I cared. I knew Mattie would never do anything inappropriate to me; besides, he knew that if he ever did I probably would have beat him into next year… but I can't imagine doing that either… since he's so sweet and I care about him too much…**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"How are you doing, Mattie?" The boy looked up at me happily and grinned. _

_"Excited… I-I think we're going t-to do really well J-jezebel…"_

_"Latias, how many people do we have to crush in this competition?" I blinked and watched as some set of girls walked into the room, dressed in some very… __**revealing**__ clothes (to put it nicely even if I'd rather spat at them) and a set of pokemon (a Persian and a Delcatty) walking behind them. Their noses were held high as they walked through all the groups and locked their gazes on a young girl and what looked to be her older brother that were only a few feet away from us. _

_"What do you think, Tia?" The older of the supposed snotty girls turned to her younger friend and she in turn grinned. _

_"What I see, Leena, is a set of Latias damned brats who came here in hopes of winning, but should just go running back to Momma since there's no hope of that happening here." The two girls sneered down at the little girl who was hiding behind her older brother. _

_"Why don't you two snobs back off?" The young boy that was possibly a couple years older than us stood up before his little sister and acted as a shield for her. "You're ruining my baby sister's first chance at a contest!"_

_"But when do we care, Smith?" The two girls started to circle around him and his little sister grabbed onto his back in fear. "I mean… maybe if you went on a date with us… we may throw this competition for your little sister…"_

_"No!" The little girl cried out. "I wanna try my best and play fair and square!" She roughly pulled on her brother's shirt. "Smithy! Don't listen to them!"_

_"You need to learn your place you little brat!" The older of the girls flung their hands forward and that's when I jumped into action. I flung my body before the little girl's and grabbed the wrist of the older girl's (I think it was Leena) and halted the attack. Mattie was by my side in an instant, standing before the young man and protecting him from the younger of the girls. _

_"Get out of our way!" The younger one said as she threw her hand at Mattie. His eyes went wide and suddenly a pokeball opened up and Luna appeared up on his shoulder in her wild, combative state. She hissed and yowled and the younger of the snobby girls screamed and backed up._

_"Tia!" The older one rushed over to her partner and glared back at us. "Keep that rabid thing in a cage where it belongs!"_

_"Luna doesn't b-belong in a cage!" Mattie lashed out at her and the girl stepped back, not expecting this. I crossed my arms and grinned behind him, happy to see the show of some prissy girls getting their asses handed to them. "Luna is my pokemon and was protecting me from you! You're the ones who should be locked in a cage for insulting and bullying others that come here to compete and have fun!"_

_"You tell 'em, Mattie!" I walked up behind him and patted the shoulder that didn't have a raging Luna on it. I scowled as I looked back to the two girls. "Now beat it bitches."_

_"Why you-"_

_"What's going on down here?" I was surprised to see the MC, Linda, come down here. "When I called the first act, no one showed up."_

_"Our deepest apologies Linda; nothing was going on here." Leena sneered at me before she and her partner walked toward the MC. "We were just talking to some newbies and telling them the ropes. We'll head out for our act now." I watched as Leena gave them a look before she nodded and led them back out to the stage. _

_**I was so pissed when I first met those two bitches back when Mattie and I were trying our hands at our first contest. It'd been a long time coming before I saw Mattie unleash his fury. I was pretty happy to see it, but I was even more pleased when I heard Mattie really get serious.**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"While they are a set of horrible girls, they know how to perform." Smith sighed as he watched them finish up their act. _

_"I see…" I snorted before turning back to Mattie. "I guess they'll be one of the ones we have to beat." _

_"I hope we both make it through, Jezebel." Mattie was still serious to my surprise. _

_"And why is that?"_

_"So we can kick their asses!" I blinked in shock at my best friend's words before I grinned at him. _

_"You got it, Mattie."_

_**Ah, that feels much better; I couldn't help but remember that. I love it when he gets all serious.**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_"So we all should be going to bed?" I didn't really want to go; I'd just gotten up. I'd rather just stay up and train. _

_Violet sighed. "If you really have to, Jez; go train. It'll give you about a couple hours before we plan to head out, so you have time to get ready for tomorrow."_

_I grinned at her. "Thanks Vi; I'm heading out now!"_

_"J-jez! Wait!" I turned to see Mattie latch onto my arm. "I-I'm coming too!"_

_"Oh no, you're not!" I dragged the boy back to his bed and pushed him down. "You need your rest if you even want to think about being there tomorrow."_

_"B-but I just got up a little while ago!" He pushed against my hands that held him down on his shoulders. "I'm not tired!"_

_"Yeah, says the boy who fell over on top of me when he first got up and couldn't stand on his own." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Mattie, you're staying here."_

_"No!" He barked back at me and I was thrown for a loop. Mattie never snapped at me; to hear him actually do that was… shockingly cool, but it was annoying as well since it was me he was fighting against. I was a bit taken aback by it. _

_"Stop arguing with me, Mattie!" I glared down at him. "You're staying!"_

_"No, I'm not!"_

_"Yes, you are!"_

_"No, I'm not!"_

_"Yes, you are!"_

_"No!"_

_"Yes!"_

_"No!"_

_**Having Mattie argue with me for the first time was actually quite shocking to say the least. I should have known better then to push him toward staying in bed. He WAS strong, but I was just… worried for him… it was later on in my journey that I started to see the signs that I loved Mattie, but I just didn't agree. I was in denial. How could he love a loud, disruptive, angry girl like myself? I had so many flaws because of Rose and how she interfered with my family and caused my upbringing to be out of whack.**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch **

_I rushed up to the side of my family and my mother who was in the arms of my best friend. Mattie held onto my mother as the blood seeped out of her. My eyes widened and I took on the form of Silky and released her to help me out. _

_"Come on Silky; morning sun!" I dropped down next to my mother and used my healing attack on my mother. Silky was about to help me when a hand got into our way. I blinked up at it and watched as my mother stopped me. She gently pushed my hands away and blinked her tear-filled eyes at me. _

_"Don't… Jezzy…" I was startled out of my healing and took her hand into my own. "It's all right…"_

_"No it's not! You're dying!" I pushed my hands back over her abdomen. "Let me heal you!"_

_"It's not worth it… I was dying anyway…" She held up her hand to my cheek. "I have brain cancer… I have for years… I've been fighting it most of your life…"_

_"Why didn't you tell me?" I hiccupped. My eyes were pouring tears; it was no different than a waterfall pouring water over rocks. _

_"Rose… she got to me eight years ago… prevented me from telling anyone…" I felt my mother's fingers brush over every little portion of my face. "And even if she hadn't gotten to me… I only had a few weeks left…"_

_"But that's still time, Mom! Still time you can use!"_

_"I've suffered for too many years, Jezebel… I've prepared myself for this moment… I'm ready to die…"_

_"But I'm not! None of us are!" I gripped her fragile hand in my own and held it to my face again. My heart was swelling with so many emotions that I'd never felt before in my life, that I'd never felt for her because of Rose; it brought raging sorrow to my heart. _

_"But I'm surrounded by my family… something I've wanted for years now… something that was taken from all of us because of that woman…" She suddenly made a high pitched sound and blood shot out of her mouth. _

_"Mom!" I raced to cover her with my hands again to heal her, but she batted them off. _

_"Don't… I'm ready Jezebel…"_

_"But I'm not!" I sobbed. "Mom… I never got to know the real you!"_

_"You still can…" My eyes widened as I looked at her. "Jezebel… I recorded everything that happened to me in diaries… I have for my entire life… ever since I could write… your father can show you where they are…" I looked back at my father and watched as he wept above me before he dropped on his knees next to me. My uncles and aunts followed suit. _

_"Brittany… I wish I had known…" My mother reached up to wipe away my father's tears. _

_"Norman… I love you… I love all of you…" She looked around to all of us before she looked back at her husband. "Norman, you and Mattie take care of my baby girl…"_

_"We will, Brittany!" Mattie was quick to respond first and my mother smiled at him. _

_"You're a good boy Mattie… I know you'll be good to my daugh…ter…" My mother's eyes rolled into the back of her head and I watched as her hand fell from my father's cheek. My eyes widened as I watched as she faded away from us, she fell lifeless. I slowly reached out toward her with shaking hands… her skin… it already felt… cold… to the touch…!_

_"Mom!" I could barely form the word as it came out of my mouth. "Mother!" I thrashed forward to get closer to her body, but my father held me back. He crushed me into his chest, afraid to let me go for his own sanity. I cried; all I could do was cry as I watched my mother's lifeless body lie before me. I reached out from my father's hold and my eyes widened when I saw the blood drying up and turning darker. _

_"MOTHER!"_

_**Its… hard to think of it, but without the overwhelming emotions of my dead mother, I realize that she was giving her blessing to the two of them, even before I knew it. She was accepting Mattie into the family; she knew he would look after me. He was a shy, quiet person who had rare moments of seriousness. He was the perfect balance to my loud and outgoing personality. I never realized it then with how angry I was from watching my mother die before my eyes…**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

_I smirked at them, glad to have such good friends around when I really needed them. It made me really wonder back to the time when I had no one, how my life was so boarded up. I was numb, trapped inside with no feeling inside my body. My mind-controlled mother kept me isolated and distanced from all those around me. People in the past had tried to get to know me before, but it was this set of three that shoved themselves into my life that really changed me, and for the better. _

_Casey, my first real friend, and the guy I can always go to when I have a question on a pokemon, or if I'm having some trouble with the Pokedex, and he can fix it real quick for me. He was the one who helped me escape the house of my controlled mother and pushed me out into the world, finally free and able to gather the scattered piece of my heart that I'd left with all of my pokemon. He was one of the ones to help me gather those pieces; he was also the one to push my heart out into the open and really expose it to others, rather than letting me sporadically lash out when I had to go on the defensive. He was also the one who taught me how to battle, and even in that practice one, I one up'd him there. Striving to be a pokemon professor like his father, he crams his head daily with facts and things about pokemon, about their types, their habitats they love to live in and what not. I'm shocked he even had the time for me. _

_Aria, she was my go-to girl, my best girl-friend and one of the people who really understood me. She was more like a little sister to me, always looking out for me and trying to keep me out some of the worse trouble (because we all knew that Aria wasn't about to run away from any trouble that she faced) that we could have gotten into. That girl went along with pretty much anything I said (not that all the others didn't do that already) but she was the only girl I could really call my closest friend. She helped me learn how to express myself and not be afraid to hold back. I mean, she never did. She was striving to be the best reporter in the world and planned to use me as her way to get up there. I had no problems with that. Our lives were pretty chaotic and I loved that she got to express it to the world. But only Aria would I have be my reporter. I don't care for others; they tend to make light of what we've done or strive for all the bad things we've done or that's happened to us, in order to put those things in the papers. Though I've never battled her, but I would love to… not to mention, I think she'd get a top review for writing about the battle she and I had between each other. _

_And then there was Mattie. One of the closest friends I had, even more so than Aria and Casey. He meant so much to me, and it's taken me a long time to come to my feelings for him, to realize that I like him more than as just a friend. I… I'd avoided admitting anything for the longest of time. I should have said it. I shouldn't have hidden it, but for the longest of time, I'd loved Mattie. And I did, even to the present moment. He's the one who kept me in high spirits, who helped me if I was feeling down; he was there for me when I needed someone to lean on. Mattie was like… the other half to me… He was the one I needed all this time, and the one I could never let go of if I tried. I can't remember the last time he and I had been separated for longer than a day or so, and that was probably all the way back… Christmas… before and after Christmas we didn't see each other for weeks. I could handle the separation, but I didn't like the fact that I had to be away from him. _

_As much as I cared about him though, he was one of the people who gave me the best battles of my life. I was looking forward to battling him again and seeing who was the strongest in comparison to the two of us. Mattie brought me one of the most exciting and thrilling battles in my life. The last time I'd faced off against him was in Mauville City. It was so thrilling… the battle that still sours me over since Luna still had a one up on Blade. I'd have to let him repay her when the time came. _

_And it wouldn't be long now…_

_**Realizing that I was in love with Mattie and finally admitting it was an amazing thing. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I was finally free of a burden that was crushing me. Maybe it was because I was finally letting things go? Maybe it's because I'm moving on from the painful life I had before, when Rose had entirely messed it up? Regardless of how, I was enjoying every second of it. And now that I knew he loved me back as well, I plan to take full advantage of his love and let him help me heal the scars I've carried since I was young…**_

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Blast burn!"

"Moonblast!"

Bright attacks of white fire like lava and a pinkish glittering beam shot at each other and quickly overpowered each other's attacks. I watched as the entire field turned white with light and everyone around screamed. Violet, Gwyn and the others were quick to act before no one could see anymore and the entire world went white.

I blinked my eyes, trying to see through the blurring spots in my vision as the bright flash was gone. Dust was flying all over the place and covered the field. I could barely make out some figures, a couple of them standing and one on the ground. I had to see; I had to see who the victor was in this chaos.

I felt my body moving on its own; step by step, I moved toward onto the battlefield, getting closer to the bodies. I suddenly saw one at my side and it was my starter, Blaze. He stood proud and firm with thousands of bruises and burns all over his body from the blast. He still held his ground in the instance that Guardian was still up and waiting to fight. He glanced at me once with a nod and I kept moving forward.

The second body was at my feet, and through a break in the dust and bright remaining light was Guardian. She had fought more than well. Her body was entirely dark in color from the many burns she sustained to protect Mattie and fight for him. She truly was a guardian. I smiled at her and she barely looked up at me with a smile, nodding at my victory before she allowed herself to rest and give up, her eyes turning into swirls.

Walking past her, I came to the last figure, Mattie. He stood shocked as I appeared out of the smoke before him. His surprised look suddenly turned to a smile and happiness, no hint of regret in his eyes.

"I know; you won, Jez." He took a step toward me so there was hardly more than a foot between the two of us. "But still, I'm happy. You deserve that title and now you can protect everyone, and I'll still stay by your side, as long as you want me there."

"How about forever then?" The young man blinked at my words before we heard cheering behind us.

"Guardian is down!" I heard Violet cry out. "The winner is Blaze and the victory is Champion Jezebel-wait, where is she?"

All of the crowd got quiet as they looked over at my trainer box to see that it was empty. I snorted a laugh before I stepped even closer to Mattie.

"This is what I mean." Before he could reply, I pushed my body forward until my lips reached his. They were so incredibly soft and they felt like they would just mold against mine. I felt him freeze under my fingers that wrapped around his small frame before he relaxed and his own arms wrapped around my neck. It was so warm… so peaceful… so right… and so powerful all at the same time. We pulled back and smiled at each other before I took one of his hands in my own.

"Mattie Ashling, would you do this girl the honor of being my boyfriend? Stay by my side and help me out in all that you can? Make us both happy for as long as we'll live?"

"Always." No hesitation in his voice. He knew now, there was no reason to walk around it or be shy. He was quick to cup my face and pull me in for another kiss and I gladly let him. Just in time to hear the crowd gasp out and "aww" in surprise. All except for my father…

"Matthew Ashling! Get your hands off my daughter!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I absolutely refused to wear a dress, so I ended up in the same outfit I wore to my contests. The only thing different we did from last time was that we added some green ribbons to my hair. I didn't exactly care for it, but my dad seemed to like it. It was one of the only things I could do to get him to stop complaining about Mattie and me getting together and him "having his hands all over me." I rolled my eyes at that comment, but let my father have his way for tonight (a bit).

Once I was dressed and ready to go, I only waited on Aria who was with me. My family promised to give me a bit of space and would bombard me later in the night when the party was going on. I was given a few moments to myself with my pokemon to relax and enjoy the titles that I had earned. I was the champion… I was Mattie's girlfriend… oh it felt so good to know that they'd all finally come true! I wondered if my mother would have been happy for me, but I knew she was. She was already happy about these things before she passed, and I read in her diaries how she liked Mattie, how sweet he was and that he was perfect for me, sweet, thoughtful, and kept me in line when I went way out of control.

"Sorry for taking so long Jez!" I whipped my head around to the girl behind me. Her hair was straitened tonight and fell smoothly around her face while the dress she was snug to her body and white in color. It showed off her shoulders and legs, but her arms and body were covered by a sleek looking white dress. It made her hair pop out against herself.

"You look pretty awesome, Aria." I grinned at her and she shook her head at me.

"But the star tonight is you, Jez! I tried to not look too good, just enough for Casey and myself. You need to be the center of attention." She smiled at me. "Ready to head out there?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I sighed. "My life will never be the same again…"

Suddenly I heard a knock at my door. I blinked and so did Aria at me. I came up to the door and cracked it open to see three females outside. I grinned when I saw them.

"Mind if we come in?"

"Not at all, you guys. Make yourselves at home." I allowed Violet, Gwyn and Levy to step inside the room before I closed the door behind them.

"We won't be here too long; we _do_ need to be out there to coronate you, but we wanted to give you our congratulations before you got bombarded by everyone." Violet was quick to come over and give me a hug. "Welcome to the club, sister champion."

"Awesome! It feels so good to call you that now! I knew you could do it!" Gwyn was next, hugging me with some surprising energy. Normally she wasn't this excited, but I guess that was just to do with the excitement in the air.

Levy seemed to be bouncing off the walls when she jumped up to hug me. "I can't wait to see you get your ring!"

"I know. I can't wait either." I smiled as I thought of the ring that had been prepared for me today on such short notice with all the gems that I would have liked. Although, I didn't know much about gems, so I asked Violet to choose for me. She knew them better. She showed me a few examples before I decided on a few sets of gems and hoped to be happy with the results.

"Well, we won't see it any faster, nor can I put off the speech I'm doing for you for the ceremony." Violet groaned before she looked back over at me. "Ready to get this over with?"

"Yep, I don't really want to be in front of the crowd any longer then you do, so let's do this. I want to be with Mattie and my friends and family."

The girls then led me to the doors and led me down a hallway of the stone castle. I quickly saw the many people who were gathered here in the hallways. I watched them turn to look at us as we appeared. They started to clap for us as we passed by them to meet up with our pokemon that were waiting in the main room for our ceremony. I soon saw it- the castle like ballroom before us. It was filled with many tables colored a bright while compared to the darker toned stone walls. I saw many velvet carpets all over the floor as well as tapestries on the walls of the same color and material. I saw a stage at the back of the room where the Elite Four were waiting all dressed up for the night. The previous champion stood with them as well as we approached, and I watched them bow to all of us. Everyone soon did in the room.

Violet and Gwyn led me up onto the stage. As the eldest of the champions, she had the honor of giving a speech and handing me my ring. She stood before me and held out her hand, motioning me to place mine in hers. I did as such and she sucked in a breath. "Jezebel Emery-Twain, you have more than overcome the many obstacles placed in your way since becoming a trainer and even such obstacles before then. You suffered through the many challenges the world and Rose Agustino placed you under and triumphed over them with unbeatable power that you possessed. For a while I was worried that your temper would be the end of you, but I was wrong. You have an incredibly strong will and such a powerful connection to the pokemon that you're friends and family with that could drag you out of any darkness that came your way. I'm more than proud of you, as are many of the people who stand before us and have watched you grow."

She turned to her side then and looked over at the ring that was carried to her by her starter. I saw that the ring was a rose gold color with a giant diamond in the center with eight gems around it, representing each of my pokemon. Violet had given me a brief lesson on gems and their colors so I think I knew some of them. The first was a ruby, meant for Blaze. The second was a pink… opal I think it was called, for Blade. The third was a glittering amethyst for Silky. The fourth was an aquamarine for Spinner. The fifth was a… well, I didn't know which one it was, but I recognized the color as a light tan color for Slacker. The sixth was… I think a peridot, a faded green color for Acey. The seventh was black chalcedony, meant for Darkness. The eighth and last of them an emerald to represent Empyrean. I smiled at the ring as Violet took it into her own hands and placed it on my finger.

"With this ring, I crown you champion of the Hoenn region." The ring was slid over my finger and I grinned as I looked at it there, it was like our crown for becoming the best. Violet had us turn to the crowd and gestured to me. "Now my dear people of Hoenn and any other regions that may be present, I present to you the new Hoenn champion, Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain!"

The crowds suddenly started clapping and I watched as they all started to cheer. I blinked in surprise as I watched them all roar with their cries. I looked over to my friends and boyfriend. They were all grinning at me. I grinned back at them before pumping my fist into the air and jumping off the stage with my pokemon right behind me to see my ring with my friends. I was bombarded by everyone at that point. So I wouldn't lose Mattie in the crowd, I grabbed his hand. He smiled at me as I was overrun.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a good while later before I was released and manage to escape the party to spend some time with Mattie and all our pokemon on the balcony outside of the castle. Our pokemon were really enjoying themselves as they played around and talked. The only set that acted differently was Mattie and myself, and Blade and Guardian. The pair of our psychic types that began their journeys as best friends and ralts' soon evolved into two different pokemon and fell in love. We watched them dance. Blade was swinging Guardian gently around the room, twirling her around the two of them lost in each other's' eyes. I smiled at them before I looked back at my own partner. He smiled; his bright green hair glowed with a silver light that came from the moon. It made it glitter and capture my attention, but I was lost in the sapphire orbs that he for eyes. They gleamed like gems and I was more than lost in them.

"Tonight has been amazing, hasn't it, Mattie?"

"It has…" he smiled. "Although I'm a bit sick of hearing your father shout for me to get away from you."

"Oh, he'll get over himself; it'll just take some time." I snorted. "He's just jealous that he's not the only man in my life now." I winked at my boyfriend and he in turn smiled at me, showing a rare grin.

"Or it could be the incident back in Petalburg." I blinked at him.

"What? You mean when Dad made fun of you having an entirely active female team?"

"That's just the quick lie I told you." My eyes widened when he said that and his face fell a bit. "Well… you didn't know I loved you or I didn't know that you loved me, but I had gone over to see you at your house and met up with your father. Your father wanted to know why your mother had asked me to keep you safe." Mattie shook his head. "Your mom knew before even we did… and so your father was okay with me, but he wasn't ready to hand you over yet, and that's when you walked in."

"Oh… wow…" I shook it off and smiled at him. "Well I bet my dad still deserved it, so don't worry about it."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're not mad?"

"Hardly. More like entertained." I laughed at him and kissed his cheek. "I knew that's what my mom was saying when she died, she almost motioned the two of us a bit in her diaries." I shrugged as I pecked his lips. "I bet my dad is just trying to get what he can for time with me before he has to give me up."

"Which I don't think he would let happen." Mattie and I both turned to the set of people who came out to get us. Aria and Casey grinned at us with their own hands together. "Enjoying the party?"

I hugged Mattie closer to me. "Of course."

"Well Violet needs you and your team for the picture, I think she said the picture guy was an old friend of hers and he wanted pictures of all our team members to add to his book." Aria shrugged. "But anyway, picture time!"

"Alright, we're coming." I turned to my team and let go of Mattie entirely, except for our hands. "Let's go, guys."

Spinner and Slacker would be both added to my picture as well, and to make it cooler Slacker evolved into a slaking. He just lay around while waiting for us. We saw Violet and Gwyn with a photographer of a white suit with a lot of equipment made up. He was heavily bearded and he grinned when he saw me.

"Champion Jezebel! Oh it is an honor to meet you! Congratulations on your championship!" He gave me a light bow. "I am Maxwell Porter, a professional photographer and an old friend of Violet and Gwyn's! I took their pictures at both of their ceremonies too!"

"Nice to meet you, but shall we? We can always talk after we get a good shot for everyone, and I want a photo to remember this and show… my mother…"

"Of course my dear, go ahead and get on the stage with your pokemon." My pokemon quickly got into place. Silky and Spinner together on my head while Blaze and Acey were on my right and Blade and Darkness were on my left. Slacker got up and threw his body over all of ours and Empyrean stuck her head next to his body to fit in the picture. "Now everyone say cheese!"

"Blaze!"

"Gallade!"

"Beau!"

"Masq!"

"Rar!"

"Gra!"

"Dusk!"

"Rhu!"

"Hell yeah!" I pumped my fist and he took the picture.

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh my God! I finally got it done! I can't believe it! It's been so long! A month and a half went into this chapter to get it done! I know it's a bit rushed in parts, but sometimes the battles were just that easy for Jezebel! So how does everyone like the fact that MATTIE AND JEZ ARE TOGETHER! I'M SO EXCITED!**

**Who's ready for more? We still have another eight chapters left! Be sure to get in your questions before time runs out! The clock is slowly getting closer!**

**Love you all and see you next week with a new adventure for Jezebel and another chance to get at her enemy, Rose!**

_**Halloween Witch **_

_**PS: Hey, guys, this is an extra note, we didn't have the chapter updated and edit until now with how busy it got, but give a huge shout out to **__**Defender31415 **__**who has been editing this entire story and puts up with me and the characters! Thank you Defender!**_


	30. A New Challenge

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 30: A New Challenge_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I was relaxing with all of my friends present for a small beach party we had set up for all of us and our pokemon on the edge of Petalburg. While my dad was busy for the day, my cousins, friends, boyfriend and I all were resting, having fun, rough housing and battling. I was taking a quick break from battling and resting next to Mattie, laying out in the sun. It was nice and warm, and getting warmer. Summer was nearly upon us and it had been almost a year exactly since I began my crazy journey and all the events that took place happened.

Since I had been crowned champion, I'd not had another battle since Mattie. The time I mostly spent after that crafting my field like I so liked for when another trainer would reach me, but I doubt it would be any time soon. There weren't many trainers like us out there. It would probably be months or even a year or two, I would bet, before another trainer would be strong enough to pass Drake and make it to me.

I was excited for any new kind of challenge. With Rose and Razi out of the picture for now, there wasn't much to do, and it made me worried about keeping my edge. Having all the free time as I did made me concerned, so Mattie had me out and training or practicing for contests almost everyday (with a good day for him to rest and relax here and there, while he may have been better with his heart, we didn't want to push it.)

Today was one of those days off, but at the same time, it was a celebration party. In only a few short days, Caspian would be thirteen and old enough to be a trainer. He was quite exited and all ready for it. With all the research that Uncle Archie and Aunt Shelly have been doing with Professor Birch, they picked out a pokemon for him and planned to bring it out before the end of the day. In fact, that's what we were waiting on now.

As the others had settled back for a while and were eating their lunch, I was shocked to see that not _only_ did my uncle and aunt show up, but so did my other aunt and uncle, my father, and the IPHP League. I was happy to see them all, but I was shocked at the same time. Violet's been known for her surprises in the past (especially from what I heard from many of her younger friends and brothers, even Alex) so who knows what she was up to?

"Hey son!" Uncle Archie was quick to call Caspian over to his side. My eldest cousin was quick to his feet and rushed over to his father while I saw my aunt pull out a small pokemon from behind her back. I was shocked when it was not just one pokemon, but _two_.

"Poli!"

"Poli poli!"

My cousin gasped when he saw the two poliwags in my aunt's arms. Both of them jumped out of her hands and jumped all over and at Caspian. One of them seemed to be quite energetic, bouncy and happy that jumped on his shoulder while the other one landed in his arms and snuggled in and was a bit more relaxed, but seemed to have a bit of a tenseness to it. Caspian gasped as he looked at both of them.

"Now son, these two poliwags are ones we got for both your sister and you, you get to take one of them on your journey, but we wanted to show them to you and choose."

"Choose?" Caspian looked at the two of them, already so attacked to the two bundles of pokemon in his arms and on his shoulder. They looked quite attached too. The poliwag on his shoulder seemed to want to cry. The other poliwag in his arms actually growled at my aunt and uncle, who stepped back while Violet made a move forward.

"Now let's just hold on a minute here." I was quick to jump before my cousin and stop the soon to be brawl from the baby pokemon. "Haven't you guys learned one of the most important rules from Professor Birch? It's not our choice; it's the pokemon's." I relaxed my form a bit more now as things seemed to calm as I talked. "I know you had the best intentions with giving a pokemon to Caspian _and_ Nixie, but if both of those two pokemon want to go with Caspian, who are we to stop what they want? It's their lives too."

"Jezebel's entirely right." Violet slowly made her way up to Caspian and gently rubbed the tops of the two pokemons' heads. "All of our pokemon are here today with us because they wanted to be, not because we made them. It's not fair to make either set of them choose. These two pokemon only just met your son, but it already seems like a connection is being made." Violet looked at my uncle and aunt specifically. "Are you two sure you want to break off this pair? It seems that these two poliwags are also pretty attached to one another."

"Well… it would make sense." My aunt rubbed the back of her head. "They are brother and sister. We thought that each one of the kids could have one…"

"But things don't always work out like that, you know that Aunt Shelly." I glanced at my sighing aunt.

"Its okay Momma, I can wait." Nixie smiled at her parents. "If they want to go with Caspian, they can."

"Oh Nix… that's so sweet of you sweetheart, we'll make this up to you…" I smiled as my uncle walked over and hugged his daughter. I rubbed the top of her head as well.

"Nice job there Nix, don't worry we'll find you another pokemon in the future that will want to go with you, your amazing girl and you got nearly three years before you get to go on your journey." She smiled over at me and nodded.

"I can wait. Maybe I can find some eggs and take care of them!"

We all laughed at my little cousin as she met up with her older brother's new pokemon. I suddenly felt a sick feeling though come over me and clenched at my stomach. But… it didn't feel like my own pain. I turned around to my other pokemon that seemed to be all find, Blaze and Blade stood proud next to each other, but were ready to jump at any moment to protect or train. Acey was lounging in the dirt and spinning around, enjoying it all over her smooth scaly skin. Darkness was hiding out in the shade of a tree, but was laughing lightly as he seemed ready to take another nap. Empyrean was relaxing with her two old friends Poseidon and Groudon. I saw Spinner with Silky… My eyes widened as I saw my female shiny bug pokemon hunched over and in pain. She looked really pale and I suddenly saw her up-chuck her food through the thin rolled up mouth she had on the front of her face.

"Silky!" I rushed over to her and everyone turned their heads. The professor I could I barely see out of the corner of my eye racing after me as I pulled her body onto my lap. The professor was quick to check her all over her and told me to return her to her pokeball to make her more comfortable.

"Let's get her to the lab!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later we were at the lab in Littleroot while the professor and Casey were looking over Silky in the next room. Spinner was worriedly sitting upon my head while the rest of my team was hanging around me, other then Empyrean. She was too large to be inside the lab without being in her pokeball. Everyone else was also worriedly walking around, pacing. This was the first time that anything like this had really happened that was bad to Silky since she had her wings almost pulled off by that brat in Slateport or when her wings and body were burned at Mt. Chimney. Instant fear and dread filled my being, much like what I felt when I read about my mother's team being killed in her accident.

I jumped when I heard the door open and I was quick on my feet up to Casey as he waited at the door. Relief seemed to be all over his face and it instantly calmed down.

"Is she okay?"

"Oh Jez, she's more then okay. Come on in and we'll show you what's going on." I quickly followed him inside. I saw the professor with a chart in his hands that he was looking over. He smiled at me and pointed to a table next to him. I saw Silky sitting there with a blanket over her body and she tiredly looked up at me with a smile. Spinner was quick to join her down on the table.

"Hello there Jezebel." The professor smiled at me. "Silky just had a little episode, but there really isn't anything _wrong_ with her. In fact, things are more then right."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Casey grinned. "Turns out Spinner and Silky got _really _close Jez." He motioned me over and I gasped when he picked up the blanket. I saw three eggs under Silky's wings. Two of them appeared to be a pinkish color with yellow dots on them while the other was a light blue one.

"Silky… you're a mom now?" I leaned down before her and looked in shock, but happiness as well. "Oh I'm so happy for the two of you!" I was quick to kiss both of their heads. "Oh my Latias…" I smiled at them. "I should have known… you two were always close…"

"Jez?" I turned around and looked as Mattie stuck his head inside. "Is everything okay?"

I grinned and jumped up from where I was next to the table and rushed over to him and peaked outside. "Everyone! Come inside! Silky and Spinner are parents to three eggs!"

My family and friends quickly flocked inside and were quick to coo and awe at the sight of the five of them, Spinner and Silky and their three eggs. I quickly felt a tug on my side and saw Nixie looking at the eggs intently.

"What's up Nix?"

"Can I help take care of the eggs?" She looked up at me intently. "I've always wanted to help take care of eggs!"

"Well… are you alright with it Silky? You are the mother." I looked back to my pokemon who just became a mother.

"Beau…" She looked over at me in a haze. "Beau, beautifly beau beau beau…"

"If that's what you want Silky, I have no problem with that."

Nixie pulled on my shirt again. "What did she say Jez?"

I lowered myself down to her level a foot or two lower then me. "Silky said she didn't mind, so long as I'm there with you. She just really worried for her kids, but she trusts me, if you don't mind, we can work on it together."

"Really?" She grinned up at me. "Could I help clean them?"

"I don't see why not." I turned back to the professor. "Do you think its okay?"

"Oh more then so, the eggs should be cleaned every day to help keep diseases and illnesses away from the growing baby pokemon. I imagine that these three are bug types, so they will grow quickly and probably hatch in a few weeks at the soonest, no different then how quickly it was for the eggs to be created in Silky."

"You ready to help me Nix?" I carefully walked over to Silky and took the first of her eggs, on of the pink spotted ones. My cousin nodded and followed me over to the sink that the professor had in this back room. "So we need to make sure that this water we grab isn't too warm or cold, we want it just right. Go ahead and grab me one of those little cloths over there so we can wash the egg with." I pointed to the pile of small cloths of white to the side and Nixie rushed over to grab one while I was filling the sink. When it was filled, I gently set the egg in the sink and went back to grab another. I repeated this until all three were in the sink. Nixie watched them intently while she waited for me to get some safe soap to clean their shells with. I scrubbed some of it into the cloth that she'd given me and I got behind Nix and took her hands in my own and we both washed the egg shells very carefully. The strokes were smooth and long, extremely slow, and probably wouldn't be that way if a baby life wasn't in the balance.

"You're doing quite well at that you two, congrats." The professor walked over to me and patted my back lightly.

"Thanks professor." I grinned up at him.

"You should be proud, it's not often that we see this kind of miracle happen, or a mother so willing to let her trainer help out with raising her children." Violet was quick to stroll in with Alex at her side with the rest of the league as well. Seeing them all inside this tiny little examine room was kind of intimidating, but I was nearly on the same level as them then, it made me feel a bit better about it.

"I know, I'm really proud of them." I glanced over at my two bug types and they smiled over at me. I saw Silky still looked a bit tired, but she looked more then pleased, which was great in my opinion.

"Do you think she'd been well enough to battle in a few days though?"

I blinked at her in surprise, but I turned to the professor anyway to hear his opinion on it.

"I guess so, a good few days and I imagine Silky will back to her normal self, just watching her eggs a lot." The professor shrugged. "Why?"

"Because I was wondering if you were ready for a new challenge." She grinned at me before she handed me a pamphlet. "Have you ever heard of the Battle Frontier?"

"The Battle Frontier? The amusement park for trainers?" Casey was quick to question Violet and she grinned back at him.

"Oh yeah, any of you guys can participate, you're all strong enough, even you two, Aria and Casey." The four of us gathered around her as she showed us a map and information about the entire park. "The Battle Frontier is brand new, created a short while after you four started your journeys. The entire IPHP League took a small vacation there and were able to beat the place, so I imagine you four will do well."

"Nice! This will be a great cure to our boredom!" Aria cheered and grabbed Casey and kissed him before he twirled her around.

"Yeah! And we can see so many different types of pokemon from all sorts of other regions!" Casey was beaming at the prospect of many new different types of pokemon.

"And we can become stronger to take down Rose." Mattie looked directly at me as he said this and I nodded at him.

"Yeah, that's what we'll do Mattie." I was quick to grab his hand and look back at Violet. "So when do we leave?"

"I was thinking as soon as Silky either recovers or she can do so while you battle at the places she wouldn't be able to battle at. It's up to you." She simply shrugged. "I mean, she's the one that just laid eggs."

"I guess that means it's up to Silky. I don't want to endanger her or her eggs."

"Beau!" Silky sat up the table with the help of Spinner and grinned up at me, ready to battle.

"Silky!" I hurried over to her and picked her up into my arms. "Fine, you can come with us, but you need to rest at _least_ for today and maybe tomorrow, depending on how you feel." My bug pokemon nodded at that, but she still grinned at me, happy I didn't say no. I picked her up in my arms and looked back at Violet. "I guess we're ready to go whenever."

"Great!" Violet grinned and took Alex's hand in her own before she turned her back to me. "Get some stuff together for a few days or a week or so and make your way outside, I'll lead you to the Battle Frontier. I have a friend there that's very excited to meet all of you for many different reasons."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later my family and I were flying on the back of Empyrean as we were approaching the island, flying after Violet and the rest of the IPHP League on some of their respective flying pokemon. I watched as the amazing island came into view of incredible land that seemed to be spread out with many buildings all over a large island with many islands around it that could be connected to it at some point. An island port was at the front of the incredibly colored island where Violet seemed to land at.

Once we were all on the ground, I could see that there was a man dressed in a decorative shirt of bright blue with white clouds on it and white shorts with a bag over his shoulder and a camera around his neck. Sun glasses were over his eyes and curly sandy blond hair was on his head. He grinned at us with a staff around him of both males and females in white and black uniforms of suits and skirts and shirts.

"Welcome to the Battle Frontier!" I felt slightly overwhelmed by the welcome we were give by the staff looking people and the man that stood at the front.

"Let me personally welcome you to the Battle Frontier, Champion Jezebel, Mattie, Casey, Aria." The man came before us and held out his hand to me. "I'm Scott Chase, the owner of this park. It was my biggest dream to open a place like this for trainers and lovers of pokemon of all kinds. I'm more then honored to welcome to four of you here. I hope my park will prove fun and a good challenge to you. I know many of the visitors here in the park are quite excited to see their champion compete here."

"Thank you, were quite excited for the challenge." I grinned up at him. "I'm not exactly sure where to start even to be honest, this place is so huge!"

"I actually heard about the condition of your beautifly from Champion Violet, so in the essence in letting her recover, why not try out the Battle Factory?"

"Oh I know about that one!" Casey was quick to cheer and grab our attention. "The Battle Factory is actually where we don't use our own pokemon, but used borrowed pokemon that we use inside the facility. We go up against other trainers and are allowed to trade from other teams of those that lose to you."

"Really?" I turned back to Silky. "Oh this will give you some great time to recover and stay with the eggs. I'll leave you all up in the hotel room we'll be staying at."

"I can stay with them too, right Jez?" Nixie was quick to come up to me and beg. "I promise I won't do anything without Silky and Spinner's permission! And this way someone's with them incase anything happens!"

"If that's what you want Nix, I won't stop you."

"But Honey, don't you want to watch some battles?" Nixie's father was quick to question her. Uncle Archie looked a little worried.

"Not really, especially if it isn't Jez's real team." Nixie shrugged and gently hugged spinner that landed in her arms. "I can wait until tomorrow."

"Well, I… guess if that's what you want." Aunt Shelly was stunned by her daughter, but didn't question it.

I rubbed the top of her head. "Thanks for doing this for me Nix. I'll leave Silky and Spinner and the eggs with you, and we'll let you know what took place later today when we see you tonight."

"I already know what's gonna happen Jez!" She grinned at me while I gently handed her the carefully set up backpack that had the eggs store and softly tucked away inside. Once she had it secured, she hugged me again and had a determined look in her eye. "You're gonna win and beat everyone. Even if it isn't your team, you're the strongest trainer and can train any pokemon to be stronger and at their best."

"Damn right kid." Aria grinned down at the little girl and the three of my friends gathered around me. I handed off Silky as well to her and once my pokemon was safe with her. I turned back to Scott. "Let's do this then!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later with Nixie and all our pokemon waiting together with her at the hotel we were planning to stay at, my three friends and I were standing before the Battle Factory. It was an incredible line of machinery that seemed to run on steam and fire of some sort as I saw it leaving the building, giving it a bit of an intimidating look. I didn't let that scare me as I saw the cool challenge. Strangely enough, many of the walls were a cross of many walls of silver, yellow and orange, not exactly colors I would expect to see, but I guess it was to get people to actually still go in, incase they were afraid of the place.

"Here is the Battle Factory, your first challenge here." Scott noted as we approached the building. "Here you will battle with a random pokemon that could be from anywhere in the world, like we explained before. And if you beat enough of the people who are competing here, you will battle the Frontier Brain, basically the equivalent of a gym leader, who is named Noland Mika. He's the head of this place and likes to see how people can handle battling without them having their original team."

"Sounds fun, can we head in?" Scott only chuckled before he moved to the side and I was one of the first inside.

"Welcome Miss Champion, right this way." An attendant motioned for me once I'd stepped inside the metal building. Glowing lights in the floor slowly moved along the way to show which direction to go it. Small facilities were lined in the same lights as I followed it deeper inside. The attendant smiled and waited for me as I approached and she got me all signed in before she took me in a back room away from the others. I saw them smile at me before my family and friends were led off to watch some of the battles while they waited for us.

I was by myself in this room with the attendant. She brought me around to a large table where six pokeballs were set up. She released all of them and I saw a large variety of pokemon around me. They were mostly pokemon of this region, a camerupt, a linoone, a pelliper, a nosepass, a gulpin and a feebas. All the pokemon here looked at me strangely before they suddenly took off and darted around the room, looking around at things and enjoying themselves. I was a bit surprised at this, but also more shocked when I saw the feebas was actually sticking around and not moving from its spot where it laid on the lower parts of its scales on the ground. It wasn't flopping around, just intently looking at me.

I looked back at all the other pokemon and used the sixth sense that Violet was letting me know about, the one that led her to me and my team. As I used it, only two energies I could feel, my own and that of the feebas'. It was looking intently at me, watching me to see if I would pick it, almost begging with the look in its eyes.

"I'm so sorry about all of them Miss Champion. These pokemon can be a bit on the rough side and not listen to people since so many people use them daily." The attendant bowed to me and sighed.

"No worries." I grinned back at her. "I already know which one I want." I bent down on the level of the feebas and it looked up at me shocked as I touched its scales soothingly. "Feebas will be my partner."

Everything seemed to freeze in the moment, all the other pokemon turned back in shock to see what was going on and the attendant actually dropped the clipboard in her hands.

"Are you sure Miss Champion? Feebas isn't a very strong pokemon… and it's not really your style…"

"And you know what my style is?" I glanced back up with her, the fire starting to set in my eyes. "Not every pokemon starts out amazingly strong you know, but they can become that way if they put their heart into it, and that's what this feebas has. Now I'm taking it as my partner to face off in the Battle Factory and there's nothing you can do or say to change my mind." I reached forward to pick up the pokemon in my arms before I grabbed its pokeball off the table. "Explain the rules to me and allow me an area to work with my partner before I start battling, if I get that bit of time?"

"O-of course Miss Champion!" The attendant was quick to grab her clipboard and returned all the other pokemon before she stood before me. "The rules of the Battle Factory are simple, one pokemon per team and one vs. one in battle. So many battles take place here and it's not often that anyone faces the Frontier Brain of any building, so normally that's why we hold so many battles in a day." She was quick then to lead me to the door. "I'll lead you to an area so you can work with your pokemon and get to know it a bit."

"Thank you." I followed her out of the room with everything still feeling paralyzing from the shock in the air.

**Third Person Point of View:**

Within a dark room in the Battle Factory sat a man in a lone chair as he watched the screen of Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain as she walked off with her chosen partner pokemon. At his side was an attendant that was also hidden in the dark. She stood at his side worriedly and watched the younger powerful woman.

"Is it wise to allow her to do as she is Sir?" The attendant leaned over his chair to get a closer look at her boss' face, trying to make out any emotion. She saw none. "Should we do anything?"

"No, let her be. I'd like to see where this girl takes our challenge. It's her strength to make powerful connections, it's just her thing." The man finally showed some emotion and a white grin appeared in the dark. "I can feel her power, and I want to see what happens. I have a good feeling that I'll be fighting today."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I was led off to another room in the back where the attendant stood on the inside of the door and watched me as I set down my chosen partner. It really sickened me that no one seemed to have any belief in this pokemon. Yes, feebas (and their similarity magikarp) have a hard time getting stronger and what not until they evolve into milotic, but they need love and someone to believe in them to get them there.

"Hi there Feebas, my name is Jezebel and I hope you don't mind having me for a partner." I patted the top of its head as it looked up at me, still bewildered at my decision to take it on.

"Fee?" It questioned as it watched me. "Fee? Fee…"

I shook my head. "I don't know what people and the other pokemon have told you in the past, but you are very capable of battling and winning. You _are _a strong pokemon, I can feel it!" I pounded my chest lightly to get my point across, but the pokemon still didn't seem to believe me. "Hey…" I made the pokemon look back up at me. "Maybe you don't believe in yourself, but how about you believe in me? I'm not going to give up hope on you, I believe in you, and I know you and I can go far." I grinned at the pokemon, pulling out my pokedex to look up some of the stats on it. I noticed it was a male and couldn't help by grin from getting wider. "Would it help if I gave you a name?"

"Fee?" His eyes went wide at me, asking more if he wanted to be father or something. I laughed and relaxed a bit.

"A name, something to actually call your own. I know you don't have much here as a pokemon in the Battle Factory, maybe what you need is something to help give you the courage to keep battling."

"Fee!" He cried out and jumped at the word 'courage'. I grinned at him and stood back up.

"Courage it is then! Welcome aboard!" I turned to the targets behind us. "You ready for some practice so we can work on our connection?"

"Fee!" The pokemon leapt forward and slammed its body into a target that was before it. The target smashed right into tiny bits and the pokemon jumped into the air, suddenly booming with energy it didn't have a few moments before.

"Nice Courage! So we know you have a pretty nasty tackle attack, I'll keep that in mine." I rubbed the top of his head. "Do you happen to know flail as well?"

"Fee!" He suddenly launched his body into a crazy flail where my body would have been _more_ then broken if I'd tried to touch him.

"Good, that means if anyone tries to grab you or gets a hold of you, we have a way to get away." I kissed the top of his head and he blushed heavily while grinning, happy for the one on one attention. "Do you know any other attacks?"

"Fee!" A sudden rain cloud appeared over his head and I felt a light rain falling down over us. It was then that Courage moved faster then any pokemon I'd ever seen through the room. I suddenly saw a flash of large quantities of water flash by me and then they were suddenly frozen. I heard the attendant scream and I looked and watched her as she slipped in the water and ice.

"Cold!" She shrieked and I flinched at her tone.

"I think we're more then good Courage, tone it down a bit!" Courage suddenly flopped into my arms, his body cold from the water he was flying through with his incredible speed. I was more then pleased, but I'm sure that the attendant was not. I turned my head to her. "Are you okay?"

"J-ju-just a bit cold…" She slowly stood up and shivered, her entire body was soaked compared to my dry one.

"Why don't you warm up and dry off, I'll stay here with Courage and work a bit more with him and we should be about ready to begin when you get back, or you can send in another one." She nodded and was quick to leave the room. You'd think she was one fire rather then soaked. I looked down at Courage and grinned once she was gone.

"That… was beyond amazing!" I looked around at the damage that Courage was able to inflict and grinned at it all. "You _are_ incredible Courage, and look at you! Your bursting at the seems with energy now!"

"Fee fee!" He smiled back at me and jumped out of my arms and back on the floor.

"Okay, so you know rain dance, water pulse and ice beam. That's really going to help us and we'll work on all of those attacks, but for now, let's try and keep them hidden, okay?"

"Fee?" He looked at us confused.

"Please don't be mad at me for saying any of this, but like I'm sure you've noticed, not to many pokemon believe that you're as powerful as you really are, and I want to use that to our advantage." He blinked at me, and when I didn't hear any cries or questioning, I continued on. "They think that they can take you out in a single hit just because you're a feebas, but they're wrong, we're going to take _them_ all out in _one hit_." I looked at him right in the eye. "You think we can do it? Because I believe in you. Do you believe in me?"

"Fee!" A determined shout came from his mouth and I grinned.

"Then let's do this!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Alright, let's get this battle on the way!" An announcer called. "Let's introduce our challengers today! On the left side, we have a favorite here at the factory! Welcome Johnny Green and his partner Tangrowth!" A trainer appeared on the other side and with a large grass type that I saw appeared in a spot light.

I looked back down at Courage and he looked a bit worried as he stood next to me. I leaned down really quick and petted his head. "We're gonna be just fine. Believe in me like I believe in you Courage, we're in this together."

He nodded to me and perked up. "Fee!"

"And in the other corner is a new challenger to our facility! But wait! It's the most powerful trainer in our region! Its Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain and her chosen partner Feebas!"

The light went on me, and I heard much cheering, but it slowly simmered down to just my family and soon enough, not even them. Everyone seemed to be confused by my choice of pokemon.

"Hey!" I felt everyone flinch, even the announcer. "You better get this right next time; my partner's name is Courage, not Feebas."

"Fee!" Courage cried out before he jumped from my side out onto the field. He had so much pent up energy in his body from behind verbally abused for just being small and categorized as a weak pokemon, and it was about time to let it all out…

"Yeah right, you're losing your title to me _Champion_!" The boy grinned and threw out his arm. "Let's go tangrowth!"

His pokemon lumbered forward and I scowled at how confident they were just because of _what_ my pokemon. I hated that, but it would work to our advantage.

"We'll see about that you brat..." I saw him instantly flinch when my murderous tone hissed out of my mouth. I could feel all the eyes on us and I grinned through the rage I felt in my core. "You have no idea the struggles I've gone through as a person and how _all_ of my pokemon has as well, Courage included. You wouldn't be able to beat us if you tried." I huffed and clenched my fists. "Maybe if you focused less on _what_ the pokemon was and work with them, maybe you actually would have a chance."

"You're the one who doesn't have a chance, take it out Tangrowth! Poison jab!"

I glared at them as the pokemon slowly made its way toward us and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Rain dance, then take it out with tackle Courage, show it how powerful you really are." Courage gritted his teeth before clouds appeared above our heads and he vanished from sight. The other trainer freaked out when Courage vanished, but then he suddenly heard a slamming sound and we watched as the tangrowth was slammed into the side and shoved to the ground before being knocked out of the field. Courage landed before me with a grin while the tangrowth was knocked out cold.

The entire crowd was stunned at the feature that just took place, but I looked over at Courage and he looked _damn_ happy. He just took down one more passive pokemon that was more then ten times bigger then him and he was _fucken _pleased. I was myself to be honest.

"Nice job Courage, I knew you could do it!" I got down next to the pokemon and kissed his forehead again. He grinned up at me and jumped into my arms as I stood.

"Fee! Fee fee!"

"T-the winner is Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain!" The announcer called out. "They move onto the next challenge!"

The crowd finally responded when they heard cheering from my family first, they all cried out and many others started to carry on with the same tune. Courage looked more then pleased, and even started to cry a bit when he saw that people were actually _cheering _for him for once.

"I told you, you could do it, and now you did, and we're gonna keep head up the ladder." I smiled at him. "Ready partner?"

"Fee!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was continuous battling after that, Courage and I kept moving through the ranks, battle after battle, using our opponent's surprise and stupidity to take them out. They fell quickly, and many battles were soon put under our belt. Eventually, once we'd beaten nearly thirty trainers, we took a break, which was where we were at, at that moment.

"It shouldn't be too long now Courage, I bet we'll be facing the Frontier Brain soon! You've been amazing through all of these battles!"

"Fee!" Courage's confidence pretty much flew through the roof once we got enough battles under our belt. He seemed to have such a strong connection with me… it hurt to think about the fact that he would be going back to the factory and his life would return to the way it was before me. I didn't want that to happen, but I didn't have much choice at the time, maybe I could talk with the factory head? Maybe he would be willing to give Courage a new life? The worst he could say was no I guess…

"Miss Champion?" I looked upward and saw that the attendant approach us as we sat in a resting room. "Are you ready for your next challenge?"

"Yes we are." I stood up from my seat and carried Courage in my arms as we headed into the next room. I was shocked to see that the room was actually quite dark and there was hardly any visibility.

"Fee?"

"I think we made it to the last one Courage." I felt my partner nod in my arms as a man appeared before us on the battle ground we had been battling on all day. Everyone seemed to gasp as they saw a man appear. He was dressed in light blue jeans, a set of red shoes and a matching cap over his lighter colored brown hair. A black wife beater was over his chest and a lab coat with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulders. Fingerless black gloves were on his fingers and a grin showed from under the hat.

"I was wondering when I'd met the trainer that bypassed my rule system." He lifted his head and I watched as metallic eyes appeared and white skin that was slightly tanned. "Hello Jezebel, welcome to my Battle Factory, I'm Noland Mika, the leader of this facility."

"I've been waiting to meet up with you as well." I allowed Courage to step out of my arms and out onto the field. "But we can talk later; I believe we have a battle now."

"Quite, and should you win you'll also get my battle symbol." I blinked at the term, but I shook it off quickly. While I wasn't aware of what the term meant, I had a vague idea that it was similar to a gym leader badge, but for here instead.

I suddenly saw the man throw his pokeball up into the air and refused to call out a name, so he must have gotten a random one as well, no different then the other trainers of this place. Suddenly I saw a tropious appear on the field as Courage's opponent and slightly flinched. Maybe this wasn't as random as I wished it would be…

"Don't falter Courage! We can do this!" My pokemon nodded at me before he glared at his opponent, who grinned down over him. "Start out with rain dance!"

"Fee!" He cried out and suddenly I saw as the clouds appear over our head and rain water appeared on the floor. Courage soon disappeared and I grinned as he was absent from all our sights.

I watched as Noland laughed. "Magical leaf."

I watched in horror as leaves covered in a rainbow of colors sped off in the air and raced after Courage. He was able to speed around and make it out of the way, but that didn't mean that he didn't get nicked here and there or that the leaves didn't stop following him. Courage looked back to see how far away they were and suddenly the leaves raced up to him and slammed in. It was the first critical and super-advantage hit he'd taken all day.

"Courage!" I couldn't help but scream in shock. He landed next to me and looked quite hurt. I wanted to jump out there and help him, but I had to stay in my box at the moment, and it killed me to watch him slowly get to balance on his scales. "Hang in there! Tackle!"

Courage's body rocketed forward and slammed into the tropius. It cried out as it was thrown into the back wall. Noland actually seemed shocked that I was able to make a move against it and Courage grinned.

"Nice! I knew you could do it!" I grinned over at my pokemon. "Courage! You got him!"

"Fee!" Courage started to jump with extra energy that he had now and I gasped when I saw a white light over took his body. Noland and all the spectators seemed to be shocked too as I watched my partner grow in size and became more serpent like in shape. When his shape completely changed, I saw the light glitter away and a milotic appeared where my feebas partner was. He grinned and looked back at me before Courage looked back the tropious that pushed itself out of the wall, mad at the enlarged swelling on the side of its chest.

"Mwa!" My milotic cried out as it glared at the opponent that came back.

"Let's get him Courage!" I threw out my fist. "Ice beam!"

"Mwa!" Ice shot out of his mouth and latched onto the enemy pokemon's leafy wings. It screeched out and fell over onto its side from the way its wings were dragged down. Courage slithered on his side and stood over the tropious.

"Take it out Courage! Use water pulse!" He cried out once more and summoned a large amount of water before his mouth and shot it at the tropious. The other pokemon cried out as it was hit relentlessly by the newly evolved milotic.

"Alright, that's enough, we don't want to hurt him too badly or kill him Courage." My pokemon then cut off his attack and made he way over to me, wrapping his body around mine before looking at his opponent. The pokemon was not getting up and Noland's cap came over and covered his eyes.

"You're the winner Champion, I concede." The crowd suddenly roared in cheers and Courage grinned down at me.

"Amazing job their Courage, I knew you could do it." I rubbed the top of his head. "And I knew you could do it before and after you evolved, I always believed you."

"Mwa!"

"Congratulations Champion. You have won my battle symbol, the symbol of knowledge." Noland walked across the field to me and showed me a golden badge in his hands. It was round with three small diamond shaped indents in it. I reached out to take it, but Noland pulled his hand back. "But before I give it to you, I want to give you an option instead of your symbol."

I blinked at him while the entire room went silent in question.

"What do you mean?"

"I see that you had gotten quite attached to the pokemon you were working with, even gave it a name and it loved you so much that it evolved. You can't tell me that you don't feel anything now, can you?"

Courage sadly looked down at me and I looked back and nodded to Noland. "Of course I care about Courage. It took him a lot to get him to this point and I'm glad I could help."

"And of course, that's good to hear, but would you be okay with him going back to the factory now? Especially since the bond between him and you has grown so much."

"Of course not."

"Then I give you a choice Jezebel, take your battle symbol, or take Courage." I swear I heard a gasp before silence sliced through the air. I glared at him.

"There is no choice, I would take Courage." Noland took his hand away from before me. "But it's not just my choice, it's his too." Noland flinched and actually dropped the symbol in his hand which Courage took up in his own and growled at Noland.

"Mwa wa mwa! Mwa!" Courage took and handed me the symbol before grabbing his pokeball off my belt and crushed it under his tail.

"Courage!" I was shocked. He had told me to take the badge and he quit the factory on his own, crushing his pokeball right before his "trainer". Noland was shocked before he shook his head and laughed.

"I knew you'd find that loophole. Good job Courage, enjoy your new home and forever trainer." My eyes widened and I looked back over at Courage, he really was courageous.

"Thank you Courage, now let's go have you meet up with the others and show them our symbol we won!"

"Mwa!"

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I met up with my entire team later at the hotel. I felt it was necessary for my newest member of my family to meet the others. I had them quickly all meet up and it didn't take long for Courage to get settled in with the family. He seemed to enjoy talking with Acey the most, who had plenty of energy to match Courage's (now that he actually had some confidence.)

Nixie was still up in the room as well and was constantly looking after the eggs with Silky and Spinner (and the female of those two pokemon seemed to have back _a lot_ of the energy she didn't have before.) I saw the girl doing all she could to keep the eggs clean, warm, and as close to their parents as possible.

As the day went by, more and more of our family and friends soon returned to the hotel and joined us all together to where the room was too crowded and we had to find a bigger space. We were outside soon in the park area across from the hotel with many other trainers here that were all more then willing to battle. And I was never one to turn down a challenge.

Our family, friends, and Scott soon joined us there where my best friends and I all soon saw that we'd all beaten Noland, but they were mostly congratulating me on my win and my capture of another friend that would stay with my father and enjoy a family life, Courage.

"Nicely done Champion Jezebel." Scott was quick to make his way over to me and grin while handing me a case. "Here's your frontier case, I forgot to hand it to you earlier on. Here you can collect the seven battle symbols that each of the Frontier Brains hold." I nodded to him and placed the first one I got from Noland in place. It fit like a glove and put it in my pocket while the professor was then up to me next.

"So Jez, now that you're champion, how about I update your pokedex to the national one?" The professor rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I mean to do it a while back, but I got so distracted from all the information you and the others brought back…"

I shook my head and smiled at him. "Don't worry about it professor, just try to have it back to me as soon as you can."

"Yes!" The professor cheered and quickly was off to his makeshift lab station he'd set up in his room (which I'm sure his wife yelled at him over.)

"Alright then, who wants to battle with me tomorrow? We got six more places, so everyone can get a shot in!"

"Gallade!" Blade was quick to throw himself into the mix and volunteer.

I grinned at him. "Sounds good to me, let's get some rest and get ready for the next day you guys, it's gonna be a blast!"

**Third Person Point of View:**

Deep within a hidden cave on the island of the Battle Frontier, two human bodies could be seen resting and recovering in the darkest parts to be unseen by the few that traveled there. A couple pokemon stood guard there, a hypno and a gengar, which hid in the shadows of the walls. A mismagius floated around the two bodies and continued to use moonlight upon them, healing the wounds they had. The most sever of the two was the woman, her arms were torn off and replaced with a set of metal ones, her throat had been ripped out, so she could no longer speak and had a thick wrapping around her neck to prevent the wound from reopening. Scars were all over her body and if anyone were to look at this woman, they would doubt she'd even be alive.

At her side was the other human, the male, already healed with the old ripped off mechanical arms of his sister's that he was throwing away. They landed in the rocks next to them with a clanging sound that brought attention to their spot.

"Make sure no one stumbles upon this place." The man ordered the two pokemon guarding them. They nodded and vanished. The female opened her icy blue eyes and looked up at the male. She opened her mouth to speak, but found she couldn't and bit back whatever sob she could no longer form.

"She's gonna pay Sis, I'm gonna kill her!" The male, Razi Harper, clenched his fist and looked toward where the exit was. "I'll kill them all; we'll get our revenge and take them all out!"

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh boy, so we got the guys starting a new challenge and all of a sudden we see that Rose and Razi are apart of the picture again! Look out everyone! Seems like the badies want another shot before the end of the story!**

**Love you all and please let me know what you think in a review or a PM message! We only have seven more chapters! Any questions you send in now will make it, but soon, they won't!**

**See you al next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	31. KO'd

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 31: KO'd_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It was pretty early in the next morning when I felt myself wake; I just couldn't wait to battle at the next area. Blade would be my partner for the day and the area Scott had given suggestion to next, to fit Blade's fighting style, was the Battle Arena. Apparently it was styled just like a fighter's dojo, and Blade and I were more then ready for that fight. While the others continued to sleep soundly at the early hour of seven, I grabbed Blade and his pokeball, strapping it to my belt, and quietly stepped out the door, leaving a note for the others as I headed out.

I noticed that there a lot fewer people up at this time. The park seemed quite quiet. It was refreshing since I didn't hear people cheering or booing every second, I liked this kind of quiet. The few people that I did pass quietly bowed to me or said hello, but much rather left me to my own devices, and I enjoyed that quite well.

Blade and I went out to breakfast at a small little café just outside of the next area we planned to battle at. A little girl ended up seeing me and Blade and somehow escaped her mother's grasp and made it to my side. I couldn't help but smile at that little girl and how she had a caring, loving mother at her side to catch her if she fell. I hugged the little girl and give her an autograph, one which she squealed at, and asked for a picture with me and my pokemon. Of course I agreed and give the little girl what she wanted. She was just so damn cute. Her mother was more then quite pleased to meet me as well. The woman had even gone as far as to give me a small gift to place at my mother's grave for her condolences. This woman… she had lost a mother too, and knew exactly how I felt… It was almost… relieving to know that I wasn't the only one that had to suffer from the loss, but then it hurts to know there's that many more people suffering…

The woman and the little girl soon left and I was on my own with Blade again. He was sending me soothing thoughts and memories to try and ease my pain, and I give him a grateful look for it. I've been becoming a bit more emotional, expressing myself, since my journey began. It was… painfully unsettling. I was so used to letting my emotions rack up and then just letting them take rage when necessary, especially since I was trying to hold up all my anger to use on Rose, but lately, its been harder to do so, every time I see a child and their mother, or grandmother, it strikes me so hard I can't help but cry and wish I was as lucky as them. So many times I felt myself wishing that my mother was still here, wishing her to stay for what little time she still had, but that was not fair to her. She was in a better place now, and every time my thoughts reached that point, I would calm down. _My mother is no longer in pain… no longer is suffering… no longer trapped…_

It was all an incredibly painful cycle that I just couldn't let go of.

Once we had finished our breakfast, Blade and I made our way over to the dojo looking building that was surrounded by some flower beds, slightly longer grass then a normal property and some newly planted in trees. It felt incredibly relaxing here, soothing even. I would have said zen too, but then I heard some grunting from inside. I saw that the door was open a hair, so I decided to go inside.

Once I stepped inside, I saw that there was a good few martial artists that were practicing against one another with their pokemon. Most of them appeared to be male, but I did see a few females that seemed to be able to hold out against the males quite well.

"Enough!" A voice rang out and the fighting instantly stopped before all the fighters turned to a male and bowed. "That is enough for today, those that wish to participate in the tournament, prepare yourselves and sign up to see if you are worthy to face off against our master. Gary," he pointed out an individual in the crowd. "Report to the master while I speak with our first guest of the day."

Eyes quickly turned to the door that Blade and I squeezed in through and I grinned shyly at them. Though it only lasted for a moment before they all rushed off. The head fighter who seemed to have a slightly different colored outfit with a black shirt rather then white appeared before me and he bowed.

"Welcome Champion, we are honored to have such a respected fighter in our dojo."

"Thanks, I hope I'm not too early…"

"Not at all. We had just finished our morning exercises and were preparing to start the fighting tournament. Are you prepared to fight in them? It seems you and your gallade are _more_ then prepared."

"Yes, but before we do, would you fill me in on the rules of this place?"

"Of course." The man led me over to another area where I saw a set of two younger looking members that were practicing. "Yuko, Harry, let's show the champion the master's rules."

"Of course sir." Both bowed before jumping back from each other and let out two pokemon. One of them had a medicham and the other had a hitmonlee.

"You see Miss Champion, here we have a very special battle system, which have you use no more then three moves. A simple quick match. If you are unable to take out you opponent in three moves, you are then subject to judgment to decide the winner. There are three categories that we look for when judging, and we always judge during the match because sometimes a pokemon can't be taken out in three moves. Mind is the first category, which is determined by you offensive strategy. Skill is the second, which is decided on heavy damage given to the opponent. Body is the last, which is determined by how much energy your pokemon has left, or how heavily it's been damaged."

I then watched the battle before me and saw how the two of them members fought. Moves of punches and kicks were used before the man at my side called the match. As I had watched, I'd seen the movements of the two pokemon. The medicham was quicker on its feet and was able to deliver more blows, but the machamp was able to deliver more powerful blows. They both seemed to tire from the fight and seemed to have about the same amount of damage.

"Yuko, you receive mind. Harry, you receive skill. Both receive body. Both are knocked out."

"Both pokemon can get knocked out by this too?" I raised my eye brow at him.

"Of course, you can have ties in a normal battle, yes?" The man looked back at me and I blinked before I nodded slowly. He was right; you could have a tie in a battle, so it only makes sense that you could have it here.

But if Blade and I are lucky, he won't need to rely on that system. He would knock them out before three moves were over… but three moves… that may be tricky with some pokemon…

"Would you like to join the tournament Miss Champion?"

"I would." I nodded to him. "Where do I get sighed up?"

"Over here." The higher up led me over to the entrance to a deeper section of the dojo. "Allow me to help you get set up."

**Violet's Point of View:**

It honestly didn't surprise me when I saw that Jezebel wasn't here when we all got up., though I was surprised when she didn't grab the rest of her team. They were all resting or eating when I finally woke in the warm arms of Alex later on that day. It was almost nine when we were all ready for the day. Her father was already freaking out as it was I was about ready to chuck something at him, and it took all my friends and family to prevent me from doing so…

We ended up finding a note left by Jez a short while later, the time she'd left was a few hours before we'd even gotten up, so who knows how many times she's battled already or how far along into the tournament she was. She noted that she was at the Battle Arena and had taken Blade with her. She planned to meet up with the others later, but couldn't wait to see them and this new challenge.

Damn the girl was faster then me at times…

Made me happy though that she was finally moving on past most of the rough patches she had gone through. I knew Jez was still pissed about her mother, but that didn't mean she couldn't move past it right? I hope she wasn't just putting on a good front for us all… the damn girl has suffered enough without rolling more crazy weight of trying to take down Rose and get revenge… but I know she'll do that anyway…

"Violet!" I lifted my head from where I was resting a bit before heading out after Jezebel with Alex. He and I were relaxing at a small table on the balcony of our room. He had his arm over my shoulders, but removed it when Levi came out with us.

"Hey Lev, what's up?"

"Can I go down to the caves on the island and explore them?" I blinked at the girl as I thought it over and pulled out a map of the park. They _did_ have a set of caves that led deeper into the island below, ones that were filled to the brim with smeargle. It was a shallow cave that didn't have many entrances or exits, no more then two and the path was traveled often by many of the tourists here to capture on of the said pokemon, or just for a good walk.

"I guess so, just keep your pokegear on you and keep in touch. I'd like a text in an hour or two or when you plan to head back. Okay Lev?"

"Okay Violet. Thanks!" The girl was quick to take off and leave Alex and I on the balcony along again. I smiled as the girl ran off. It'd been a few years since I met the little girl and look at how she was blossoming. Two years time and she could go any where she wanted without my permission. I'm sure she was looking forward to that…

"Don't worry Vi," I turned my eyes to my boyfriend at my side. "That girl is still going to need you; she isn't going to drop of the face of the earth when she turns thirteen."

"I know Alex… I'm just worried." I sighed. "I've already known that girl for four years, she like a little sister to me."

"That isn't about to change when she turns thirteen. She still wants to help out, be a member, and take down Rose. In time, she will be at our level. As we speak, she slowly is gathering a team to help her do so. It may take a few more years, but soon she'll have a team that can take down anything and anyone in the world, maybe even us too. After all, and entire team filled of only legendary pokemon would be quite an opponent."

"I know, and I'm glad she'll be well protected, I just worry." I glanced down at my slightly worn championship ring that was dirtied from all the fighting I'd done over the years and reminded me of my team, family and friends. "I worry about everyone…"

"You don't want any of them getting hurt, but we can't stop that Vi, we're not deities of any kind that can re-write the world so that no one gets hurt or hurts anyone anymore, but we can do the best that we can to stop it." He leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "That's why you created this group, you wanted to keep people safe. You wanted to help others, and you're doing that."

"I know Alex… Its just… until Rose is gone, I just feel like I can't stop doing anything, like worrying, until she's gone."

"Rose will be dead one day, either by your hand or one of ours, but someday, someone will kill her and her rein of terror over upon others." He groaned and pushed back some of his hair before standing up. "Come on Vi, up."

"Huh?" I blinked at me before he reached down and picked me up out of my chair. I cried out in shock. "Alex!"

"You need a distraction to get off this topic for the time being. If you're voicing it to me, then you're definitely bothered by it more then you should be right now. Come on, let's relax on the bed and make out."

I raised my eye brow at him, but before I could get out a single word, I was thrown onto the bed and Alex soon on top of me. I tried to protest, but his lips crashing into mine as he was trying to keep me down and distracted just as equally in passion.

_And he was doing a damn good job…_ My head started to spin and I got quickly lost in our activity.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

A short while later I was in the battle area for my first fight here in the Battle Arena. I'd spent a little bit of time training up with Blade while we waited to start, but as soon as I was to start, we would just continue on (unless Blade needed a break) until we either were defeated or beat the boss of this place.

A few of the fighters of this place stood around and watched with intent eyes, the judges. They intently watched Blade with their non-blinking eyes, already evaluating a bit onto him. It was silent as we waited for my opponent to show up. Soon enough I saw a young man once again face me from on the other side of the field. This one in comparison to who I fought yesterday seemed to be a sweeter young kid. He looked new to pokemon, he held his pokeball close to his chest and was shying away from the judges all around us.

"H-hi… Champion…" He shyly waved at me and I waved back.

"Hello, what's your name?"

"Sammy…"

"Hello Sammy, let's have a good battle, hm?" He nodded to me and I grinned back at him.

"I'm really glad I get to face you Champion. I always wanted to try, but I'm a new trainer…"

"You'll get stronger, everyone does in time. You'll get more confident. My boyfriend Mattie did."

"Mattie is my inspiration!" It was the first non-stuttering or shy sentence he'd let out. "I wanna be strong like him one day and overcome my fears and troubles!"

"I'm glad to hear it. Maybe I can introduce you to him later."

"Really?"

"I don't think it would be a problem. But right now, we have a battle to face. You ready for me?"

"I guess so…" The boy looked at his pokeball before he threw out it. "Go Hariyama!"

I raised my eyebrows when I heard the name and saw the massive fighting pokemon before me. I was not expecting this kind of pokemon from this shy little trainer, then again, look at Mattie and his team. _I shouldn't be shocked by that…_

"Alright then, let's go Blade!"

"Gall!"

"The match between Champion Jezebel and Sammy will now commence!" A fighter ref called out with flags in his hands.

"Start out with fire and ice punch combination!" The pokemon's fist's were soon coated in fire and an icy haze as it lumbered forward before it jumped and started to throw punches at Blade. He dodged out of the way and basically almost danced over the battlefield as he twisted and turned and side-stepped from the attack.

_This kid was good for a beginning trainer. He may have only had one pokemon to focus on…_ My thoughts wandered slightly as I watched the fight and thought of the child that was a fan of Mattie's. He seemed a lot like Mattie in the retrospect that he was shy before battle, but during it was entirely serious and eager as hell. I grinned at that, it made me feel like I was battling him. But this poor kid was not Mattie. He wasn't as strong as him, but he certain seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

Blade jumped back as both fists came at his face and such while the two fists of the hariyama lost their coatings of fire and ice. The boy seemed to curse under his breath while he shook his head and prepared for another attack.

"Now! Use focus punch!" The hariyama pulled back its fist and pulled power into it, the fist glowing yellow before it was thrusted forward.

"Teleport!" Blade vanished as the powerful fist came in close. The attack never touched him though, he appeared right behind the pokemon, and it just barely had enough time to look back while Blade grinned back at him.

"No!" Sammy shouted.

"Ice and fire punch combination Blade!" His sword like hands were encased within fire and ice and he leapt at the pokemon that was still in mid-spin. Blade slashed his arms and punched the enemy pokemon and it cried out as the ice and fire residue was left on its body when it fell onto the ground. Sammy gasped in surprise and I saw some small tears well up in his eyes before he rushed out onto the field.

"Hariyama!"

"Oh man… is that pokemon okay?" I rushed out onto the field as well with other fighters that were around.

"Hari…" The pokemon slowly lifted its hand to its trainer's head and smiled at him.

"Hariyama! You're okay!" Sammy cried as he held onto his pokemon.

"The winner is Champion Jezebel!" The ref was quick to call my win as soon as the pokemon was alright.

"Hey," I patted Sammy's shoulder. "I'm glad to see your pokemon's okay." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. "I don't exactly know how to hold back."

"Its okay, I'm glad you showed me just how much more training we need to do." Sammy wiped away his tears and grinned back at me. "I'm sorry though if I wasn't much of a challenge for you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm happier about meeting you." I nudged his shoulder. "So I'm gonna get ready for my next battle, but if you wanna keep watching, you're welcome to. I'm sure Mattie will show up soon."

"Thank you!" Sammy was quick to grin and returned his pokemon before following to stand next to me.

"If he's not competing any more, is it okay if he stays with me?" I questioned the staff.

"So long as he stays out of your and others way, we have no problem with it."

"Cool!" I grinned. "Let's have battle two then, Blade and I hardly got our fill."

"Gallade!"

**Rose's Point of View:**

Everything hurt. Even just lying still upon the ground with all the clothing we had on us supporting my body, it still hurt. Everything felt on fire. That's all I was succumbed to. My brother and pokemon both stayed by my side, I was sucking energy out of them to help my body to heal. I've been resting for quite a while since Jezebel tore out my throat. The thick bandage was still wrapped around my throat to protect it. Razi checks on it more then once a day to see how my progress is. It's been _more_ then slow.

I couldn't speak ever again; my voice was permanently taken away from me by that brat Jezebel Emery-Twain. She was finally among Violet and Gwyn's level of power; there were no more chances to take her out. She was too strong, and Violet had now made a powerful team of trainers to face against me. I would have to wait for the next one, oh yes; I knew they'd be more trainers like her in the world. They're always were. She always managed to find one or two. Next time I would have to be craftier… or just fight to the death… I needed to see blood, I needed to see the dying and hear the screams that can no longer come from my own throat.

"Sis," Razi was quick to my side as I gently felt the bandage on my neck. Even with all the energy I've sucked out of my pokemon and my brother, my neck still just won't heal. Without the bandage and the lack of movement right now, the thin skin covering it would simply just rip open and I would bleed out to death. Razi already had to steal some blood packs to keep me from dying after the battle with the ancient beasts of sea, land and sky.

I couldn't speak to my brother, so I pointed to my throat and did my best to make a sort of sucking sound. Razi knew that, it meant I was thirsty. He was more then particularly careful with how much he gave me in fear of it actually splitting open something.

"Here Sis, just take a little bit." My brother brought an old cup he'd grabbed from the battle park above us to give me water. It would only have a little bit in the cup, just enough to wet down my throat. I hated it because I wanted to swallow an entire river; I was so thirsty, so hungry. I haven't had anything to eat. Razi had stolen some liquid substance to feed me until my throat healed more, but with it taking so long, we had to look into more options.

"Hang here for a minute Sis; I think I figured out how to heal you a bit faster." Razi was quick to his feet and hurried out to the other section of the cave that we were using to protect ourselves from the outside world. I heard some struggling before I saw a young girl, probably in her late teens being brought over to me by my pokemon, trapped by a psychic and threatened by a curse attack. Once she saw me, she tried to scream, but her voice was trapped and held back by Hypno.

"We found her out in the tunnels, looks like she was supposed to be camping out for a few days. That should give us some time to suck out her energy before someone reports her missing." He brought her before me and grinned. "Suck away Sis."

I snorted a laugh as I felt Gengar's traits take over me and I quickly went to work sucking out the girl's life energy. Oh it was fresh energy. It was exactly what I needed. I'd been stuck with my brother's and pokemon's weak energy for weeks now, but with fresh, young energy, I was finally healing. I'd been so long without this… Not since I used to steal from my members of Team Rocket or from the members of Team Aqua and Magma.

I sighed as I felt the energy finally working and my throat feeling thicker then it had for weeks. I finally didn't feel the endless burning on my skin. I sat up from my spot as the girl was dropped to the ground. I didn't kill her, not yet. I would make her suffer as I sucked out any energy she had to heal me, and once I was finally healed, I would kill her, and then the others as well.

Violet would perish by my hands… and all her friends and apprentices too…

**Mystery Point of View:**

Sitting in another room at a private dojo next to the Battle Arena, a woman meditated as her mind listened into the television before her of the battles that were going on. Her apprentice, a man of white pants and a black shirt of incredible muscles, walked inside and bowed to her before sitting across from her.

"Sensei, you sense her power, yes?"

"Of course," the woman smiled as she felt the intensity of the battle, even from such a fair distance away. "This will be a wonderful battle. I look forward to it."

"You know she will make it through the preliminary rounds?"

"She's already nearly there." The woman smiled from where she sat and was quick to jump to her feet. "I shall prepare myself and my partner for the match, it won't be long now."

"Of course Sensei, is there anything you need for me to do? It's been so long since you've had a match against someone other myself and those in the dojo."

"Only prepare yourself for one of the best battles ever, my student."

**Levy's Point of View:**

I'd just entered the caves a short while ago and I was already enjoying myself incredibly. The cave was well lit and looked amazing to me as I saw the many drawings that seemed to be all over the place. From what I heard and knew about this place, it was filled with smeargle, a very artistic pokemon, which would explain all the drawings on the walls before me. I could actually see the pokemon jumping in and out of the darkness all over the place before and behind me. I wasn't quite sure if they were just shy of me or didn't notice me yet.

I walked around the caves, taking pictures of all their work until I came to one that actually startled me a bit. It was a picture of a woman dying on the floor while another girl was hovering over her, giving her energy, while three other figures were shrouded in darkness that watched them. I watched the smeargle finish its painting before it looked back at me. It was strange to see a pokemon with a red glow to the outer edge of their eye; I'd never seen anything like that before.

As quick as I seen the glow, it was gone and the pokemon happily greeted me. I blinked at it for a moment before I shook the pokemon's hand.

"Hi! Can we join you guys down here?"

"Smear!" The pokemon led me over to where a group of his friends were and I joined in, getting the buckets of paint they had and getting it all over my hands and learning from them.

_This is fun! Still… I'll have to ask about that strange painting later…_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Many battles later, Blade still stood tall and was ready for more. I grinned as I watched him stand at the ready for whatever battle would be coming next, as it had been all day. Sammy watched behind the two of us and was gushing at how amazing we apparently were. I did love the extra attention a little bit, to hear how all our hardships and training were paying off, but at the same time, it felt a little strange. I guess it was just something to get used to now since I was famous.

I'd face over twenty battles or so already and only one of them was where I had to use that system by the judges. It made me nervous to rely on that, by their rule I would win or lose. I'd faced off against a metagorss and that thing's defense was crazy. We made a lot of headway with fire punches, but it wasn't enough. It came down to the point system. Thankfully we won, but that still didn't mean I wasn't worried.

It came soon to the point where I saw the members of the dojo all gathered around our box and many other spectators. The man I'd talked to in the beginning with the black shirt soon came out with another person behind him, a female. The woman had short blond hair that curled around her face, giving it a smoothed round-ish shape. Her body seemed to be covered in this thin legging like material that was a light blue and I could see that it covered the lower half of her and her arms, but I couldn't see where it ended on her body because there was a black shirt with red edging to it on her with a white ribbon tied in a bow around her waist on her back side. She wore not shoes or gloves and grinned as she came out and her slightly tanned skin hit the sun.

"All bow for Master Greta Barin!" All the members of the dojo did as such as the woman stepped forward before me in the battlefield and held out her hand.

"It's good to finally see and meet you Champion Jezebel. I am Greta Barin, master of this dojo and the leader of the Battle Arena." I took her hand in mine and shook it. "Am I correct in assuming you're here for a battle and my symbol?"

"More then." I grinned and stepped back a few paces into my box where Sammy still sat near by to watch. Blade was already out on the field and grinned. "Shall we get started?"

"Of course, let's go Breloom!" Out of her pokeball came the evolved form of a shroomish. I remember seeing them often with some female fighting type trainers, a blend of the cute grass type and a fighter all in one. It didn't surprise me that a woman like Greta had a pokemon like this, but I'm sure this one was much stronger then what the others I'd faced in the past had been. This one looked to be quite in shape and had an incredible quick body. It was already punching at the air before us to show off its reflexes and practice. I could see this was going to be a battle that would rely on that damn point system…

"Alright Blade, let's go!"

"Gallade!" My pokemon held up his arms before his face and waited for the Breloom to show off its moves. I wanted to see exactly what I was facing before I went all out.

"Well take the first move then, Breloom! Start out with stun spore!"

_Damn… grass type…_ I watched as the move began to take effect and the breloom shook off its body before many yellow spores came into the air. Blade waited on my orders as the powder slowly came toward him and suddenly I had an idea.

"Fire punch!" The flames instantly came up on his fists and when the spores hit it, they all turned into flames. Greta and her pokemon gasped before Blade jumped through the flames and sucked its punch into the gut of the pokemon. It flinched, but dug its feet into the ground and wasn't thrown aside.

"Now use sky upper cut!" A fist was thrown under Blade's chin and he was pushed a good twenty feet into the air, flinching from the attack. I hissed as another idea came to my head.

"Now Blade! Psycho cut!" Blade's arm was covered in an eerie glow of purple before he swung his body around and slammed it into the breloom, making it fly back. It landed back on its feet and glared at us.

_Only one move left each…_

"Now Breloom! Use dynamic punch!"

"Go Blade! Close combat!"

Both of our pokemon threw their bodies to the middle of the field where they collided. A swift punch to Blade's body came first before he went all out and wailed on the breloom. It was shot backward and quickly was thrown back toward Greta. Breloom took the hit easily, but was back on its feet before long and waited for another attack.

"Enough!" The ref jumped out between our two parties and halted us. "Time for judging."

I froze when I heard those words and I saw Blade go stiff too, he and I were just as worried when we heard those words uttered from his mouth, what they saw only moments ago and how our pokemon are at the end of our fight is going to determine the winner.

Greta and her partner seemed just as stiff on the other side of the field. _I wouldn't have guessed her for being nervous at all, I mean, she's the master? Wouldn't her people rule in favor of her? I'd only recently become champion, there's no way they'd do it for me…_

_Stop thinking those thoughts Jez, these people are honest and will choose fairly!_ I hit my face and snapped myself out of the phase I was in. Greta's members and students were all kind and good people; there was no way that she would make them choose her. It would be done in the right manor.

"Both Master Greta and Champion Jezebel receive mind!" the first judge called out.

"Champion Jezebel receives skill!" the second shouted.

I felt my heard beating faster all in that moment, depending on the last, call, I could be tied with Greta and lose, a draw with a gym leader or superior (unless they say otherwise, which isn't often) means that the challenger has lost, since they weren't able to overpower them or win.

Greta knew it took, I saw her fist clench as she waited on the final call while the third judge, her right hand apprentice in the black shirt, looked at each of our pokemon before standing before the other judges.

"Champion Jezebel receives body!" he cried out. "It's a knock out! Champion Jezebel Emery Twain is the winner!"

"Yes!" I pumped my fist and was quick to race out to Blade. He grinned at me and gave me a high five before he pulled me into a one arm hug and thrust up his arm into the air.

"I guess that's it for me then, congrats Champion." Greta smiled before she and Breloom bowed to us. She then straitened herself up and walked over to where Blade and I stood. "You are the clear victor, and more then deserve my symbol."

Greta held out her hand and showed me a golden round symbol in her hands. I saw that it contained two cuts into it that looked like sideways capital 'L's that formed a rough shape of a square with two open patches. I smiled as I added this to my case.

"Thank you Greta, maybe one day we can have a full six on six battle with no rules and go all out, I'd love to see how truly strong you are, this battle was _much_ too short."

"I agree, but it helps with moving trainers along for the park." She shrugged. She held out her hand again. "But one day, we will Champion."

"Oh you better believe it."

**Third Person Point of View:**

Levy had been out in the caves all day and had sent texts every so many hours to keep Violet updated and keep her calm. But now the hours were getting later and a different force of weakening was after Levy to bring her back as the day ended.

A lone figure walked into the cave and watched as the smeargle danced around the walls with their paintings and such. He glanced at each of them until he saw a more blob like picture that seemed to be made from fingers rather then tails.

"So this is where you've been…" Aaron looked up in the cave and followed the funky drawings to where he found the younger girl he was looking for. She sat before another set of rocks, her hand entirely covered in paint as she painted with the smeargles. She was laughing, and as much as it pained him to take her away…

"Levy! Its time to go back to the hotel!"

"Awe Aaron!" The younger girl pouted at the fourteen year old. "Can't I stay out a bit longer?"

"Sorry, but it's already eight, I'm surprise Violet let you stay out this long with it starting to get dark." He shook his head and held out a hand for her. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and get some dinner, okay?"

Levy pouted, but otherwise nodded before she took hold of his hand with her dirty one. He didn't care as he felt the grim of the drying paint on her hands get on his own, he was just glad to have her with him.

"Oh Aaron!" Levy was quick to pull him off to the side and show him the artwork she'd come across when she first arrived. "Look at this! I found it when I first got here, do you think it means anything?"

As Aaron looked at the picture before him that one of the many smeargle had made, he tried to make sense of it. Sure, he could see the five figures and three of them being surrounded by darkness, but that didn't make much sense to him. He couldn't tell the genders of them either. He groaned as he looked at it.

"Why don't we bring Violet by later on and you can show her? I honestly have no idea what to make of it, it just seems like a creepy drawing, but most smeargle don't do stuff like this… unless…"

"Unless what?" Levy looked up at him curiously while holding onto his hand.

"Unless something happened to that pokemon." Aaron shook his head. "But I bet it's probably nothing, things like this happen, sometimes we need to learn to expect the unexpected." He pulled Levy back on the path home. "Now let's get going, I don't want Violet killing us both for being late."

"Fine…"

**Witch's Note:**

**Well here we go! Another symbol down for Jezebel and Rose is recovering! Shit! That means we may have another confrontation before the end of the book! Who's ready for that? I know I wouldn't mind hurting her some more! And I bet you guys wouldn't mind either!**

**So anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter and send a review or private message! We only have SIX chapters left before the end of the story!**

**Love you all and see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	32. A Fight on Your Own

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 32: A Fight on Your Own_

**Rose's Point of View:**

That girl… that young girl that Razi found was helping me _immensely_. Her energy was pure and young, full of adrenaline and life. She helped me heal over the night and now I was able to sit up and move on my own. I was getting back to normal... or as normal as I can be.

But there's one thing that will never change, I have more scars, I can't speak ever again. All thanks to Violet's little group of heroes that she made to take me down. Every time there seems to be another, another new child that she takes on and teaches only for them to hurt me. Gwyn and Levy stole my husband from me while the prior woman also took my arms away from me, Jezebel stole my voice, and Violet is the ring master pulling the strings, hurting me at every turn. All I have left is my faithful pokemon and my brother, nothing more, nothing less.

The grunts that my brother and I had recruited to assist us were all captured or went into hiding when they saw the destruction of Sootopolis. No members, no tools, it would take forever for Razi to get me another set of arms to work with, since my last set were destroyed.

"Morning Sis." My brother was quick to enter with some solid food for me to eat and stepped over the body of the young female I'd just drained energy from. The stupid hiker decided to go by herself in the caves while I was there and things magically fell into place for me to heal. My throat was finally healed enough where Razi let me take off that Mew dammed bandage and brought me more solid food he'd stolen from the park. I was feeling more like my evil self again…

My brother laughed as he looked over at the dying female behind him. "She won't last much longer, will she?"

I shook my head. _No she won't, but she's helped me heal quite well…_ I grinned as I looked at her. The girl was emotionally and physically exhausted. I'd been only allowing her to rest when I'd had my fill and then gave her time to recover so I could have more of her pure energy.

"It won't be long now Sis, and look what I got you! An early present!"

I blinked at him as he pulled out a set of glass looking arms that had claws for hands. I was shocked to see the material and Razi was quick to put them on my arms, replacing my old mechanical ones.

"Try it out! These guys are made of some of the most durable material in the world, even Violet and the other girls would have a _hell_ of a time breaking those. Its some sort of rare mineral mixed with glass and plastic I think, not really sure what it was called, and I had placed an order like this to an associate of mine a year ago when you first lost your arms to Gwyn Jalen, and it finally came it. He just dropped it off here before I killed him and covered our tracks."

I raised my eye brow at his words, but easily moved around the material that was on my arms. It felt smooth, easy to move, but dense… heavy when swung just right. I took and slashed at the rock right next to me, and I was shock that it actually _cut_ the rock into four, nearly even sections. I grinned madly as I saw the destructive power I had now.

_I couldn't wait to see what they looked like with blood stains on them!_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It had been a long night last night once I got my second symbol. The others had happily gotten theirs as well and we would soon be on our way to be getting our third. We had a good amount of time last night, so I spent it with Mattie and all of our pokemon and checking up on the eggs. Nixie was still right at their side while her older brother and his two poliwags played a good distance away from them. It was nice to have a blend of peace and quite at the same time as rough, powerful battles all in the same day. I really like how it makes my body feel.

When the next morning came, it was only me and Mattie who were up besides some of the other IPHP League members. Violet had still looked a bit tired when we saw her and gave a tired wave to Mattie and myself when we approached the breakfast table. I felt like taking my time today. Silky was happily planted on my head while my other pokemon rested in their pokeballs on my belt; they wanted to watch these new fun battles and couldn't wait for theirs. Silky was the one who would be battling today, she convinced me well enough last night that she was fit to battle once again.

"Morning Hon." Violet yawned as we approached the seat with only her and Tristan that morning. I was shocked to see that their respective partners were not at their sides.

"Morning, where's Alex and Gwyn?"

"Sleeping still." Tristan was the one to reply to me. "I'm the one who gets up early between me and her and Violet's been worried about Rose again."

My face became a bit more serious then. "What's been bothering you about her then?"

"That we haven't heard any news about them." She groaned as she rubbed her head in frustration. "We haven't heard a single word, but at least some random travel would have noticed her by now, or at least a person who could look like her. The fact that we haven't heard or seen anything, nothing at _all_, really worries me."

"But she's not strong enough to make a move on her own yet after all the damage we did back at Sootopolis, right?" Mattie questioned.

"Exactly." She turned her tried, blood shot eyes to him. "The fact that nobody has even seen her recovering or seen her pokemon really worries me. We haven't even gotten any notification about a gengar or hypno and normally we get those like crazy!"

"Violet, calm down." Tristan was quick to cover her hand with his. "Stressing out like this isn't going to help us find Rose."

"I know, I know… but how can she hide so well? Especially with those injuries she had!"

"I'm with Vi on that one." I crossed my arms and a scowl settled on my face. "She couldn't have gotten far; it wouldn't surprise me if she was in the area. One of the surrounding islands where she could hide in a cave and what not."

"Then I'm going to go search." Violet was quick to her feet, but Tristan was just as swift to stop her.

"Sis, wait! You're dead tired and want to go search for Rose? What if you actually do find her? In this state she'll kill you!"

"Oh no she won't!" Violet was nearly dragging Tristan out the door. The two of them struggled against each other while Mattie and I only watched. I soon saw our food come out and was quick to dig in.

"Aren't we going to do something?" Mattie questioned me quietly.

I shrugged. "Violet is the leader of the IPHP League for a reason, she'll be fine. But if she needs help, we're all here or around." I took a bite of the bacon I'd received. "So we just need to chill and give the girl her space. Besides, right now Violet still doesn't see me to be of her level yet, so until then, I'll keep training until she says I can. And then…" I clenched my fist before slamming one into the other. "I'm gonna kill Rose."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a short while later when Mattie and I had left to head over to the next location on the Battle Frontier, which was the Battle Palace. It was quite a serene place compared to the dinning hall that Violet and Tristan were fighting in before we left, and soon other members had joined in to stop them. Before us stood this beautiful castle like structure (actually reminding me of the Pokѐmon League castle) that was made from red bricks, which gave it a calmer look. Many elegant looking round, stone arch ways and windows were all over the place with grand wooden, open doors at the front with red carpet just beyond them and heading inside. I was actually surprised to see water and a forest all around this place. Pokѐmon seemed to go in and out of the palace as they pleased while trainers laughed and sat around, waiting to head inside.

As soon as Mattie and I walked inside, I saw an older set of people manning the stations here to lead people inside the castle further to battle. An older woman looked at Mattie and I and smiled from her station of a stone counter that blocked her from the rest of the room.

"Ah, Champion Jezebel, Matthew, I was wondering when we would see the two of you." The older woman lifted a board, which seemed to be one of the only ways behind the counter she stood at, and came over to the two of us. "I'm assuming you're here to challenge the Battle Palace?"

"Yes we are." I grinned at her, all pumped up and ready to go. Silky cheered as well on the top of my head as she fluttered her wings. She was excited to battle after laying her eggs the other day. "Where do we start?"

"Come, I will lead you to your rooms where you will stay with a member of the palace as you compete." The woman led Mattie and I off into the back area of the castle before we came to a set of rooms right across from one another. Another woman was waiting in the one on the left while the woman who had been leading us stood before the room on the right.

"Which one do you want Mattie?" My boyfriend shrugged before he went with the left room and allowed me to take the right.

"Good luck Jezebel." Mattie gave me a quick kiss before walking into the room across from me.

I blew him a kiss. "You too Mattie!" I waved to him, feeling a lot happier then since I got to battle and get out some pent up worries and frustration on Rose.

But then it was time to focus my energy on my opponent once they arrived inside. The older woman who led me here led me to a battle box across the bricks. I was pretty surprised to see that we had a stationed stone platform in the middle of the room for battles while water was flowing around the entire thing. The opponent's box was entirely closed off from me unless I took a _really_ high and far jump or used a pokemon, or swam I guess.

"Would you like me to explain to the rules to you before you get started dear?"

"I would like that actually." I nodded to her. "What are the rules of the Battle Palace?"

"The rules here are quite simple, you use one pokemon, and you let the pokemon battle on its own."

"…That's it?" I was stunned when the woman didn't say more. My eye brow raised itself in shock while my jaw dropped a little.

"Yes, that's it." She only smiled at me, like this had happened a million times before, and I bet it did.

"Well I guess that works out well for my pokemon then, they've fought on their own many times." I grinned as I looked up to Silky. "Ready to get to it?"

"Beau!" She flew off of my head and made her way out to the field where she waited for her opponent.

I turned back to the woman. "We're ready then."

"Excellent, here's your first opponent." It wasn't long before I saw that a young girl enter on the other side of the arena. She was dressed in a cute little sundress of yellow color and had flowing brown hair. She smiled and shrieked when she saw me.

"Of my Latais! Your Champion Jezebel!" She danced on her feet and I couldn't help the grin and giggle to escape my mouth as she did so. "Oh I love watching you! You and your pokemon are _beyond_ amazing!"

"I'm glad to hear you say that, it means a lot to mean to hear that all our hard training paid off. So…" Silky took to the air and I grinned at her with my arms crossed. "You ready to face me?"

"OML!" She shrieked again and started jumping around. I blinked at her in shock. "I never thought this moment would ever happen! Of course I am! And even if I lose I know I've won to a more then worthy trainer! I'm just so honored to be seeing you in person!"

"And same to you Girly." _This girl was crazy, but she was funny. Can't wait to see her battle style of her pokemon._ "How about name?"

"A name? Oh you mean mine!" She giggled and settled down a bit before pulling out a pokeball. "I'm Lulu!"

"Nice to meet you Lulu and I hope we have a good battle, because I plan to let Silky go all out!"

"Right!" She threw out the pokeball. "Let's go Crobat!"

I quickly saw the flying/poison type emerge from its pokeball. It was nearly glowing in its bright purple color and laughed when it saw me, grinning as it saw Silky as its opponent.

"This will be interesting…" I stayed quiet as the two of them flapped about for a moment, sizing each other up.

"Good luck Crobat! Do your best!"

"Have at it Silky!"

As soon as my pokemon heard that command, she got right too it. She was well aware that I couldn't give her orders here, but this actually worked out for us. My pokemon have battled without me telling them what to do before, I mean, how many times have they acted out against others or when we were facing Team Magma and Team Aqua in the past, or Rose and Razi? My pokemon have no problem taking anyone out on their own.

Silky was quick to fire off the first attack. I watched her grin as her eyes glowed a bright pink color and she let loose a psychic attack on the other pokemon. It cried out and was thrown back from the powerful attack, quickly landing on the ground from the intensity.

"Crobat!" Lulu was quick to call out to her poor pokemon that was suffering under our attack.

"Nice job Silky!"

The older woman that stood next to me only smiled. She seemed to love the fire that burned in my eyes as I watched the battle. She didn't say a single word, but I'm sure she was there to enforce whether we were following the rules.

But cheering on your pokemon and telling them they were doing a good job was _not_ orders of any kind.

Silky then flew forward, while she was still holding onto the psychic attack, and used a wing attack on the pokemon, throwing it away. I saw her eyes loose the color then, letting go of the attack, and then throwing a shadow ball at it. It cried out as the attacks just kept coming and didn't stop.

The pokemon then thought it would be a good time to attack before it was taken down. It spat out a sludge bomb attack at Silky, but she simply dodged it and grinned as she raced forward again to attack with her tackle attack. She slammed into its body and grinned as she threw it back into the wall.

The crobat hardly stood a chance against her, but at least it tried.

The pokemon barely made itself get out of the wall and looked up in time to see Silky letting loose a silver wind. The pokemon screeched before it was feel to the ground in utter exhaustion. It was beaten black and blue and could hardly move as Lulu freaked out and jumped onto the platform.

"Beau…" My beautifly quickly came back to my head and sadly looked out at the other pokemon on the field that the girl hovered over.

"I'm sure their fine Silky, but let's go check." I jumped out onto the field and the woman stepped over herself too and we walked over to where Lulu was. She was hugging her pokemon to her chest. "Is your crobat okay?"

"Okay? Okay!? Does she look okay to you?" Lulu pulled a one-eighty on me and snarled as I approached. "Don't come near her! You hurt her!"

"Girly… it was a battle, and I don't hold back. But I _can _heal her." I turned into my changeling form of my beautifly and slowly approached. "Let me heal her."

Lulu didn't say anything, but set down her pokemon and allowed me to come in close and set my hands just above its chest. Silky landed next to her as well and we both began to heal the pokemon. I watched as the pokemon slowly opened her eyes and looked up to Lulu. She gasped as she saw her pokemon lift her wing up to her trainer's cheek.

"Oh you're okay!" She hugged her pokemon, when she wasn't in immediate danger anymore.

"Sorry Lulu, but in battle, my team and I are not ones to hold back." Lulu looked back up to us and I shrugged. "We are the champions after all, we have to up hold our title and keep our strength up."

"I guess… I guess I hoped that you would hold back a bit here…"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Girl, when have I _ever_ held back?"

She lowered her head. "Good point."

"It seems you have won this battle Champion Jezebel," the older woman said. "Shall I go get your next opponent?"

"Hang on a sec." I looked back to Lulu. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll go heal her up and go train." She huffed, but showed me a smile. "I'm going to figure out some way to beat you before I die!"

I shook my head as she headed toward the door she came in. "Good luck with that!"

She was gone then and I nodded to the older woman, I was ready for the next opponent.

**Third Person Point of View:**

"_So, what do you think of her dear?_" The woman who stood with Jezebel now questioned the man on the other end of her hidden microphone. In a hidden room on the second floor of the Battle Palace, a man sat in the light of the room and smiled at the screen as he watched Jezebel engage in her second match. The room was entirely bright from the sunshine stretching to all its edges. Plants were crawling up the walls and a small fountain was in the room was well. It was soothing… a quiet place where the man sat on a mat in its center.

"I believe I found a wonderful opponent." He chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Do be sure to make her follow the rules and what not, dear. I hope I will be facing this girl soon."

"_Of course honey."_ The line cut out and the man was left alone again, but he smiled as he pulled out a pokeball.

"It won't be long now, my dear pokemon…"

**Violet's Point of View:**

After I escaped the arms of my brother, I took off into the air above and made my way out to the islands. I was so restless… it was impossible for me to sit still for very long now. I felt like… I had this connection to Rose; one that no one else seemed to have that would lead me right to her. Well… maybe no lead me right to her since I haven't been able to find her yet, but I could sense that she was healing, gaining power. She was recovering, and that was not good. She was somewhere in the area, that much I could tell, but beyond that, it was hard to pinpoint a location with her energy still so weak.

I could feel it coming, another attack that she planned to lead. One more shot of killing the innocent and trying to take over _anything _of the sort, and I have a bad feeling that its here, on the Battle Frontier or the islands around it.

I felt the pokeballs of my team open up and my four flying pokemon took to the air while Chalcedony and Amber took to Amethyst's body. I slowed down my pace and dropped myself slowly onto Amethyst's shoulders before releasing my changeling form.

"Bre?" Chalcedony was quick to question me before as I laid my head against Amethyst's neck for a moment.

"Sorry about worrying you, guys. I'm just stressed from Rose."

"Rhu…" Amethyst was quick to agree and nod her head. She knew exactly how I felt about not being able to find Rose.

We've dealt with this many times before. The fact that we just haven't been able to see Rose at all in the last few weeks, wounded or not, some sort of claim or information normally shows up by now so we could at least keep on our toes and follow her lead, and the fact that we couldn't really annoyed me. I didn't like it at all, and the others were getting frustrated and annoyed about my feelings on this. Alex had already tried to distract me, Tristan was trying to get me to rest when I couldn't… it wouldn't surprise me if they started to go on a search for me soon about this…

"We better stay away from the others for now. I don't need them trying to stop us from trying to find her." I looked around at the islands below that surrounded the area. "We'll start searching the islands near by from head to toe and find her. I'm getting sick of doing nothing; the others can give me updates later about how Jezebel, Mattie, Aria and Casey are doing."

My team cried out their agreements before they followed me over to the first island that was coming up. I needed something to do in this stressful waiting period.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Many battles later, Silky still glided through the air happily, grinning down at her opponents as she waited for another opponent to be thrown before her. She liked the fact that she got to fight on her own without my command, because then it gave her free rein to go all out (not that I ever would prevent her from doing that…)

We enjoyed the battles here, that was a given. I grinned as I watched my pokemon take down all of her opponents with little ease and continuously getting stronger, even if her opponents didn't give her much of a challenge. Its kind of funny to be honest, you'd think as a new mother she'd want to stay with her partner or her eggs, but she wanted to be on the move and battle, and I couldn't blame her for that.

More then twenty or so opponents later, the woman still was with me as Silky and I continued on our winning streak. Things were going well, all up until the woman turned to me and took me out of the room we were in. We hadn't lost, so why?

"Right this way, another battle awaits you." I blinked at her and Silky took a small break by landing on my head while the woman led us away from the room we were in. I could see Mattie in the room across from me battling with Roza. The two of them seemed to be having fun. I grinned and I saw him turn and look as his battle ended. He grinned and waved at me before he vanished from my sight as I made my way down the castle hallways.

She led me to a room in the back of the castle. I was shocked to see that there were many people who were watching this arena. I was allowed up to a platform over a stone battlefield with a thick veil of water around it. I saw that there was an older looking man on the other side of the field. He was slightly darker skinned, mostly from a good tan all over his body. I saw blue markings on both of his arms that were visible, more then likely tattoos. He was bald, but from his chin flowed a white beard that flowed from the sides to the middle of his face. Half of his chest was exposed from the way his blue shirt was styled. It only covered one shoulder and seemed to be like half a shirt, like he either cut the other part off and sewed the edges or got that shirt that way. He seemed to be also wearing a long skirt of straw yellow. In his hands was a staff that was a dark blue in color with red markings on it, kind of reminding me of the markings of the ancient beasts.

"Bwa ha ha!" The man burst into laughter as soon as he saw me and grinned. I couldn't see the color of his eyes because of how narrowly he looked at me. His personality and older age reminded me quite a bit of Wattson. "Welcome challenger! And a champion at that! I've been waiting to battle you for a while Champion Jezebel!"

"Good to hear, I always love a good battle!" I grinned at him. "Can I have a name to put to the face?"

"Spencer Catori." He laughed again before he pulled out his pokeball. "Shall we begin?"

"Oh yeah!" I grinned and looked up to Silky on my head. "Let's go Silky!"

"Beau!" She jumped off my head and headed out onto the field. She hovered in the air as she watched Spencer, waiting for an opponent to face.

"I love your spirit! Let's see how strong that bond you share is in battle!" He threw out his own pokeball and out of it came, what I had only seen in pictures before or sometimes when seeing Vince with his pokemon, a lapras. Its large body landed on the stone ground of the battlefield and I knew that this beauty would be a challenge that I was desperately after.

"Have at it Silky! Take 'em down!" My beautifly took off in that instant and raced at her opponent.

It was in that moment that the battle started as Silky was only feet away from the water and ice type pokemon. The lapras was quick to fire an ice beam at her to try and thrown her off and away, but Silky would have nothing of that and stuck right around her head before she fired a quick shadow ball at its face. It hit right on its mark. From there Silky pushed back to see how much damage she did.

Strait from the cloud of smoke shot another ice beam, that pokemon was _not_ down by a long shot. Silky was quick to fly back out of the way where the beams of ice couldn't reach her as well. The lapras looked quite frustrated as it watched Silky in the air.

"Easy Lapras, you'll get her, use your head." Spencer chuckled as he saw his pokemon having issues with the battle. His pokemon looked back at him for a moment before nodding and jumping into the water around the edge of the ring. Apparently it was legal from the way no one said a word other then cheered.

Within the water, the transport pokemon seemed to have a good grip of the current that was riding in. It used this to speed up its movements as it went in circles around this stone block. Now that Silky had a good bit of dodging out of the way, she wanted some action. I saw my pokemon dive in the air after the lapras and it dived under the water, hiding under its surface.

_Damn… most of Silky's attack won't work well under the water…_ I cursed as I watched Silky trying to think of a way to deal with this pokemon. We'd never really had this issue before, so this was a new one to add to the books.

"Don't freak out Silky! This isn't going to stop you from taking it out!" My pokemon cried out as she dived toward the water and flew over the shadow of the lapras. I could see the pokemon turn its head to watch her for a moment before they turned a corner on the edge of the ring. Silky then cried out and she let loose a thick silver wind that flowed right along the edge of the water, some of it sinking into it and the powder absorbing the water properties. She then flew up high into the air and screeched as she threw a sunny day attack at it, which was strange since a sun normally rose. She risked getting burned in order to take it out. Not that I'm surprised. All of my pokemon, and me included, are crazy as hell.

The water then exploded and I saw it shoot up into the air and a cry raced out as I saw the body of the lapras. It whimpered as it sat at the bottom of the water, the water had all been shoved out, leaving it a sitting duck for a few moments while water was slow to come back in.

"Get it Silky!" She was quick to race at the pokemon and threw another sunny day, this time into the air and a bright sun overcame all of us. Silky basked in the sun before she summoned its energy and cried out as she threw a solarbeam. It hit head on and the lapras screeched out in pain. I saw Spencer cringe as he looked to his pokemon.

"Hang in there Lapras!" The pokemon itself was incredibly pissed off now as it looked over at Silky. With a roaring cry, water started to pour in until the paths were filled again, and then the stone field was even covered with a few feet of water, making everything level now. I felt the water graze over my feet by a few inches and watched in worry as the lapras allowed itself to swim up and above the stone platform. From atop there, the enemy pokemon cried out and the water all around it rose into ferocious waves that rose well over Silky's head. A could barely hear her waterlogged cry from beneath the roaring waves.

"Silky!" My voice left my mouth before I could hold it back. I knew she was alright, I could feel it, but my mind couldn't help but cry out as I saw her go under.

I cringed as I saw the water to turn green from Silky's body below the waves and the lapras had hardly any time to move before Silky was next to it and sucking the energy out of its body. The water was quick to drain as Silky was robbing what little energy the pokemon had left in its body. Lapras was stranded on the stone land once more.

"Don't be afraid my dear, battle until one of you, or both are knocked to the ground." I blinked as Spencer calmly talked to his pokemon. The way he spoke, it was like he was giving a hidden order. I felt a moment pass as I through… one, two three…

"Silky!" Spencer cringed as I figured out his plan. "It's a perish song!"

She was quick to cover her ears as the lapras broke into its depressing and killing song. Silky ended up landing on the ground while it sang. She used both her wings and her tiny stub like hands to protect her while the lapras slowly inched forward.

"Get it Lapras!" Spencer's cry was heard over the singing and I watched as the pokemon took a moment to breath, stopping the song and holding an ice attack over Silky's head.

"Silky!" My pokemon's eyes widened as she released herself and rolled to the side before catching the air under her wings and getting into the air. She snorted before she called upon a giga drain attack. I watched as the attack was quick to latch onto the lapras and suck out its energy. It cried out as its power was ripped away and it collapsed to the ground. Spencer seemed shocked as he watched his pokemon.

"Nice Silky!" She had the energy in the world now that she needed to take out the pokemon. She slowly got in close where the lapras was and watched as it tried to form an ice beam in its mouth, as soon as it started to form, it would just fall apart. The lapras was stubborn and still kept trying, even as Silky approached her.

"I'm pretty sure this is over Silky." She nodded to me and landed on the lapras' head. It was then that the pokemon finally gave up and laid its head on the ground.

"Lapras is unable to battle!" The older woman called. "Silky is the winner and the victor is Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain!"

The crowd we had cheered around us and I smirked as Silky came back and landed on my head. She looked quite worn from the day's events, but seemed to be quite pleased with herself.

"Ha ha ha!" I heard laughing from the other side of the field and watched as Spencer returned his pokemon and approached me. "I'd love to battle you again Champion. You're like a spitfire out there and your pokemon are just the same! I'd love to battle against your whole team one day and face them all!"

"Thank you Spencer." I smiled at him and Silky gave a cry of her own agreement.

"And before I forget, Honey, could you give the girl my symbol?" My eyes widened as I turned to the older woman. _She was Spencer's wife?_

"Of course dear." The older woman approached me and happily handed me a golden symbol that was round, but had four little rectangles that were forming around the middle in the shape of a square. "For you, dear Champion, the spirit symbol."

"Thank you!" I grinned and showed it up to Silky. "Our third one Silky! Only four more to go!"

"Beau!" She grinned.

"Thanks for battling me Champion, but I gotta get ready for my next match. Your boyfriend was right behind you!" He waved as he walked to the back room. "And I gotta get another pokemon from my team!"

"Well then I guess we'll watch." I turned to the woman. "As long as we don't bother Mattie, can we watch his match?"

"Of course deary."

**Witch's Note:**

**Ah ha! Another symbol! And everyone's freaking out over Rose or Violet! It's awesome! We're getting closer to the end and even closer to final battles! I'm so excited I'm nearly ready to burst! But then I can't or else no new chapters for all of you!**

**But man, it was kinda cool to do this chapter with the pokemon doing their own thing and battling on their own, but what did you guys think? I'm excited to hear what you guys thought of it all and can't wait to work on the next chapter since it's my favorite part of the Battle Frontier! The Battle Pike! I love the cold and heartless Lucy!**

**Alright you guys! You know the drill, Review and leave Questions for me if you please and let me know how this chapter went! Only FIVE CHAPTERS LEFT!**

**Love you all and see you next Saturday!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	33. The Seviper Challenge

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 33: The Seviper Challenge_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

My friends and I were steadily getting through the challenges of the Battle Frontier. After today, we would be halfway through our challenge here. They were really fun and I was enjoying myself, but I was slightly bothered by what Violet had said. She was entirely right, Rose could be out there and near by, recovering and what not, ready to attack as soon as she's healed. But as much as I wanted to rush out like Violet had and chase the woman down, I had to prove myself still first, so I would complete this challenge first and work from there.

Today was supposed to be a really fun like challenge that included a maze, so I was instantly asked by Darkness to join me today for this game. He was more then excited, especially when the building is shaped like a seviper. He really wanted to try his hand at this challenge. From what I heard, it was supposed to be a challenge of luck.

I made my way down to breakfast with my pokemon partner attached. The others decided to stay behind with my family and train today and be ready for anything or the challenge that they may participate in later on (if they haven't battled already.) Mattie, Aria and Casey were already waiting there for me with their desired partners for the day as well. Luna hung out on Mattie's shoulders while Exploud stood proudly at Aria's side and Snorunt bounced up in Casey's lap. The three of them were quick to notice me once I appeared.

"Morning Jez!" Aria was quick to great me as I approached the table. "Ready for the new challenge today?"

"More then ready, I'm really excited for this challenge; I hope it gives us a cool change with this maze and teleportation thing here." I grinned at her as I took my seat.

"I hope so," Casey huffed a bit. "I heard though that you go around in circles and could end up in rooms you were in before and have no idea if your going in a circle or not."

"Works for me." I shrugged as a chansey came over and quickly took my order of food. "I have no problems with this challenge, it's different."

"I hate to change the topic though…" Mattie went slightly quiet on us as he started to speak. "But where is the IPHP League now?"

Aria sighed. "I just got a call from Gwyn this morning. She said that they were checking out the islands around the Battle Frontier before they do a good scouting of this island."

"Violet must be freaking out over Rose, I don't think she's gotten any sleep yet since your coronation Jez," Casey said worriedly as he looked at me.

"I'm just as worried, but as much as I want to help, I want to go all out, and I need Violet to believe in me first, so I need to beat this place first." I glanced up and clenched my fist. My teeth gritted as I felt the rage and swelling emotions when I though of what the woman has done to us all. "And then we can be part of the League, I want to go all out and take her down. I want it to be my hand through her chest, ripping out what's left of her black heart to repay her for my mother and avenge her!"

"And we will Jez." Mattie took my hand. "We're gonna get her."

"We better," I sighed and loosened my rigid posture and relaxed a bit. "But let's move on and eat before we head over, I'm excited for this challenge and I won't let that malicious woman get in my way."

"Right Jez!" Casey grinned and his pokemon jumped in his arms before she flew out of them. "Hey! Snorunt! What are you doing?"

"Snow!" She shook her little body before walking up to me and jumping up into my lap, sitting herself there.

"Well hello there, aren't you just a cutie?" Casey's snorunt looked up at me and smiled, putting one on my face.

"I think she's trying to cheer you up Jez!" Aria giggled as she looked at the cute pokemon.

"Well, I think its working." The pokemon giggled and laughed before it stopped and looked into my bag. I blinked at the pokemon. "What is it Snorunt?"

"Snow?" She reached into my bag and pulled out the dawn stone that had evolved Blade a long time ago as a gift from Steven. The stone glowed as it touched the cute little snorunt's skin. "Snow!"

"Snorunt! Put that back!" Casey was quick to snap at his pokemon before the pokemon took on a white light and he gasped and stepped back. All of us did (well, I couldn't since the pokemon was right on my lap.) We watched as the body enlarged and took on a female form. I saw the ribbon appear on her back and as soon as the light vanished, a froslass appeared before us. The stone that I was given had broken and all its energy gone now between the two evolutions.

"Nice there Froslass, looks like Casey has another strong pokemon." The female pokemon grinned and let a beautiful, soft cry before she looked back at her trainer and warmed back up to him.

"Fross!" She hugged him happily before she turned and took a good look at Darkness. I looked as well before I saw that my ghost pokemon seemed to be looking directly at the froslass. I raised an eyebrow at him, but watched as my pokemon's eye turned into a heart and Froslass' did too. The two of them brought their hands together and floated together as they couldn't stop starring at each other's eyes.

I couldn't help but laugh. "At this rate, all my pokemon are going to be dating another before this adventure is over! Blade and Guardian, Silky and Spinner, Darkness and Froslass, and maybe even Courage and Acey."

"You may want to watch for more eggs Jez!" Casey grinned. "At the rate they're all going, it may just happen!"

"It's so good to see that they've found happiness though!" Aria giggled. "And they're all so cute together!"

"Awe…" I couldn't help but coo at them. "But now I don't want to separate them, even though I really want to battle…"

"Just tell them that they can hang out later, we all need to get going," Mattie gestured to me and I sighed and nodded before I walked toward the two recently discovered, in love pokemon, and I tapped on Darkness' arm. His heart looking eye turned from Froslass and the two of them looked at me.

"I'm really sorry to bother you guys, but we gotta get going to that challenge today." I told them, trying to not sound mean in the slightest. Darkness and the rest of my friends and team, and their teams, meant everything to me, especially their happiness. "Once we beat the Battle Pike later today, you guys can spend tonight and the next few days together if you want. Spend some time with one another."

"Dusk…" Darkness was quick to reply to me and nodded his head. He looked back to Froslass and looked to have kissed the top of her icy, ghost like hand before returning to my side. He bid her good-bye until tonight. Froslass blushed at this before she vanished and reappeared next to her trainer and blushed a dark blue color on her cheeks from her shock.

"Who knew you were the real ladies man Darkness?" My dusknoir chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he followed me out and the others followed behind me. "But anyway, let's go check out the Battle Pike!"

**Violet's Point of View:**

The last night I hadn't gotten much sleep, but with what little I had gotten was better then before I was moving and out and about. The others of my IPHP League were quick to follow after me and make sure that I didn't do something terribly stupid. Alex refused to leave my side for the night when I was resting finally. Tristan and Vince had been stubborn about sticking with me when I woke up and wanted to get on the move. Gwyn was worried about me, she gave me those looks that said "I'm petrified of whatever your doing to yourself." Levy was worried as well, but Aaron for the most part kept her spirits up and just saying that I was worried about Rose hurting other people. Thank Mew that he was so attentive to her.

But things wouldn't be like that today. I had no choice but to take someone with me, so I decided to take two people to not only ease their worries, but for them to know I was in good hands in case anything happened. Alex all but shoved his way to my side and said I'm going, I had no say in that matter, but he was the first I planned to take anyway. He gets so worried about me when I get like this, and I don't blame him. Levy was the other. The poor girl was worried as she watched me get only a few hours of sleep each night only to try and sneak away from the others to find out more locations where Rose could be and I could find her. I was shocked thought that Aaron even let the girl out of his site to come with me and Alex. Normally he's at the girl's side all the time, never leaves her alone, and while she's okay with that, it just seems out of character for him to let her go. He grew really attached after Gwyn shot him down…

The three of us were on our way to a southern island on the edge of Hoenn next to check for Rose. It was correctly called Southern Island and was our last place to check before we would start heading North again, now that we were running out of locations to check near by, and we'd have to check over the Battle Frontier too. The island looked quite tropical and was covered in a dense forest and green as we arrived. No port was here from how far south it was, but it seems a small wooden dock was left for incoming boats.

"Wow…" Levy was quick to land next to me on the dock and look around. She then turned back to me. "This place is cool!"

I nodded to her. "Now let's look around for any clues. Let's start there." I pointed ahead to the man made path that was just a short. Alex narrowed his eyes at it.

"Do we have any idea who was the last person on this island? That path looks fresh and a little wide for humans." He was right, the path looked worn down to nearly bare earth and quite wide, nearly big enough to have two and half people walking down it at a time. I pouted and looked at the bath before moving forward.

"No idea, but let's find out."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

My friends and I soon arrived at the enclosure that was supposed to be the Battle Pike. I was a little shocked to see that it was in the form of a serviper, but quickly shrugged as we made our way into the opened mouth that seemed to be the entrance. Once inside the body of the place, I saw how this place was highly decorated. The inside of this place was covered in a darker bronze colored tile on the floor while trophies were scattered around the area and silky red curtains hung in the back, effectively cutting off this section from other rooms in this place, or other pathways for the workers to use.

I saw at the red curtain stood a few females that were all dressed the same. They were workers to the Pike Queen here, Lucy Faust, were dressed in a dark magenta dress with aprons over them. Black stockings could been seen and flat shoes on their feet. All of them had some sort of green hair on their heads, but that seemed to be where the style came out for each individual person.

"Welcome Champion Jezebel, Matthew, Aria and Casey." A female with long green hair greeted us that was in curls. She bowed her head and allowed us to step past her toward the curtain. "I'm assuming you're here to face the Battle Pike?"

"We are." We walked forward with her with her our pokemon partner for the challenge out and next to us. "Can you explain us the rules before we get started?"

"Of course Miss Champion." The woman nodded to me before she turned to the curtains behind her. "Here at the Battle Pike there is a string of many rooms that you will be teleported between until you reach the end. Upon reaching a new room, there will be three rooms that can be entered, an attendant will be there and speak to you if you wish. They are there to help guild your way. In each of the rooms that you enter, there is a possibility that you could battle a trainer, run into a room filled with fog and pokemon, or get your pokemon healed by one of our staff. If you manage to pass through so many rooms, you will face our Master, Pike Queen Lucy Faust."

"Cool! Sounds like fun!" I turned to my friends. "Let's start!"

"We'll be right behind you Jez!" Aria grinned as I walked before them all with Darkness at my side and we stepped onto the very large and oval shaped transporter. The curtain closed and I heard a strange sound go off as we stood there. I blinked my eyes before I dared to move off the teleported and look past the curtain before me. I felt my eyes widen as I looked at an entirely different room.

Like the woman had described, there were three doors in this room and the tile had changed to a pink color. A single woman stood between two of the doors and calmly looked at me before returning to a stiff statue like form. I blinked at her before I turned to the teleport behind us.

"We should wait a moment to see if the others come through this one or not." Darkness simply shrugged at that and we stood off to the side. We waited for a few minutes before we finally heard that strange sound. I saw that there was another person that came out, but this person wasn't any of my friends. The person looked at me in shock before stepping back as they looked at my pokemon and myself.

"I could have sworn the others were right behind me…" I groaned as I looked back to the teleporter.

"Dusk…" my pokemon nodded.

"If I may Miss Champion?" The stiff looking staff member made her way over to me. "All of your friends were sent to different locations within this facility. You would have better luck by keep moving and run into them at another location. By remaining here, they will continue to move forward while you are left behind."

I slowly nodded at the woman. It did make sense that they'd separate us, but it would be by luck if we saw each other at all. I sighed before I turned away and looked to the three doors that were before me to where Darkness and I would go through.

I turned to my partner. "What do you think Darkness?"

"Dusk?" He tilted his head and rubbed it with his hand. He then shrugged and I sighed.

"Okay… let's give the woman a second of our time then." We turned back to the woman who was next to us. "Is there anything you can tell us about where to go?"

"Yes... if you are having trouble finding your way, I can give you a possible clue about one of the three doors ahead."

"Okay." I nodded to her and the woman lightly held her head. She groaned as her eyes lightly glowed pink before she shook her head and walked back to her post.

"In the center room I sense something… I seem to have heard something… a faint whisper…"

It was all the woman said before she returned to her post entirely, ignoring me. I nodded to her before standing before the center room.

"Let's head through this one then." Darkness nodded before we walked into the teleporter of the center curtain. Once through, I saw that we had made it into a small room. Four trophy like structures were in the middle while the same theme of colors and materials were in this room. I saw the red curtain behind what appeared to be a set of two trainers. They both looked at me with shocked glances before I saw grins come to both of their faces and they approached me. Both of them seemed to be male, and the atmosphere around them was quite… cocky…

"Well if it isn't the champion herself. All by herself and only a single one of her pokemon with her." The first male approached and ended up on my right, slowly stalking his way around me.

"The ghost one too, haven't seen it much… it must be one of her back burner pokemon," the other one chuckled evilly. He was on my left. When they met each other again, they were behind me and I turned around to face them.

"Really? You think that just because Darkness hasn't been seen often that he's a pokemon that I don't let fight often? Wow, you are dumb." I shook my head and Darkness floated before me. "Play with them as much as you want Darkness, I think that they deserve it after that comment to you."

"Dusk…" He laughed mischievously and faded from sight. I backed up to the other side of the room and sat down while Darkness played around.

"Yeah right, that pokemon take us down? We'll see about that!" The first of the trainers threw out a pokeball. "Go Sableye!"

"Yeah, let's go Mightyena!"

The two pokemon were sent out then, both of them were strangely dark types. Did they know I was going to be using Darkness when I came in here? Well, even if they did, Darkness could take them down without my help. Its child's play to deal with people like these two.

And that was not being over confident, that is fact.

"Do what you want Darkness. Cocky bastards like them aren't worth a real battle." My ghost pokemon stayed within his invisible form to confuse the two before him, but now that he had full say in what to do. I could barely see his grin forming in the empty space before us as he approached the two of them.

"Show yourself you coward!"

"Darkness a coward?" I shook my head. "There's something really wrong in your head, but if that's the way you want it, fine by me." I looked to my pokemon. "Darkness, let them see what you've been working on and take them out while you were invisible."

"Dusk…" I saw the boys wither in shock as Darkness appeared right before them. His body was covered in a dark fog and his stomach was starting to seep open. He had been welling up his attack; it was nearly ready to burst. His eye glowed and he glared down at them.

I chuckled darkly. "Let it out Darkness. Ominous wind!"

The souls burst from his chest in a racing and roaring attempt to grab at the other pokemon. The both cried out and actually turned back and raced toward their trainers. The trainers and their pokemon watched in horror as the color was ripped from the room and the room itself was torn to shreds as well as accelerated in time to falling to pieces and withering away. All four of them were shaking by the time Darkness' attack was only inches from them.

"We surrender!"

Darkness' attack stopped and I groaned. _I guess that's no practice for Darkness at all… bummer…_

Darkness called back his attack to his stomach before returning to my side. A scowl was set of his face and matched mine.

"Dusk…"

"I know." I patted his arm.

"Follow me then please…" One of the attendant women showed up next to the cowering boys as they screamed as they saw her. She turned to me and pointed to the next teleporter. "Please move on and enjoy your time Miss Champion."

"Thanks." I led Darkness off to the teleporter and we moved onto the next room.

As soon as I saw a matching area to the three rooms and another attendant, I sighed, feeling a pattern to this strange maze.

"Alright, let's get moving and try this one Darkness."

**Third Person Point of View:**

Hidden away in a private room of the Battle Pike sat a female on a luxurious bed. It was round in shape and rich in red color much like the curtains that blocked off the teleporters. On her lap and wrapped around her body for warmth was a seviper that seemed to be taking a nap. The woman was gently petting the beast as she looked to the TV before her. She saw the woman known as Champion Jezebel moving about her maze and making her way closer and closer to the end where she would face her. Normally people would be knocked out at this point, but Jezebel seemed to be able to beat them all or scare them into surrender. She chose a wise partner of a ghost type for this challenge.

"Mistress," the woman turned her head to face one of the members of her Battle Pike. The woman with long and curly green hair bowed to her. "Jezebel is getting closer; shall I prepare the battle room for you?"

"I think that might be wise, her and her friends are going to force me out of hiding and into a battle. Not that I mind…" The woman stood from her bed and the seviper wrapped itself around her body as she stood. She grinned as she looked to the battle ahead. "Because I'll take her down."

**Violet's Point of View:**

It was a short while later as we moved through Southern Island. We'd spent a good few hours looking around for any clues as to why this island looks like its inhabited when it clearly shouldn't be. The path that we'd seen earlier seemed to have been worn down until we got to a field up in the middle of the island, but then from there, nothing. It was all long grass, although the way it looked there was a nest from the pressed down grass toward the back of the field. Pokѐmon must be on this island, but we couldn't see any.

So where were they?

We'd all since split up on this island to look for clues. All of us were within ear shot so there wasn't much to worry about. I would also sense if anything happened to the others, now that my head was a little clearer.

I soon was quick to hear laughing and I turned my head to where Levy had rushed off to on her side of the island to explore. I narrowed my eyes as I made my way closer to her area and I'm sure Alex was too. It took me no more then a few minutes to find Levy with what seemed to be a copy of me dancing around with her in the field.

"That's so cool! Can you turn into me too?" The 'me' with Levy nodded silently before she was covered in a white light and suddenly a version of her appeared before herself.

"Levy?" The girl whipped her head around to me and the copy of her hid behind her arm. "What's going on over here and who's that person or pokemon with you? How can it transform into us?"

"Violet! Come meet Lati!" I blinked, but walked slowly over to her and met up with the other girl. Suddenly she was surrounded in another white light and a large pokemon appeared behind her. It was flying over her head and was white and golden in color. It had wings on its back and arms that attached to its front that looked like it could tuck into its fur for faster movement. Small tuffs of fur seemed to stick out on its back end to help guide its flying. Its body was mostly golden with a white neck and a golden rounded triangle on its face, the middle of it hollow and showing the white fur. Another triangle of blue color, also hollow, was on the front of its chest. Its eyes were bright yellow and color and it grinned at us before flying around and picked up Levy, flying her around in the air.

"Na!" the pokemon seemed to cry out happily, she flew around in circles around me over and over.

"I'm getting dizzy Lati, can I get down for a moment?"

"Here Levy." The pokemon slowed down and I took her from the pokemon. While Levy was sitting in my arms, trying to get a grip on herself, I reached forward and touched the pokemon's face. Her fur was incredibly soft to the touch and she looked so kind.

"What exactly are you?" I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the pokemon. The pokemon looked at me in question while a red version of itself appeared on the pokedex screen. _Latias, the eon pokemon. Latias is highly sensitive to the emotions of people. If she senses any hostility, this pokemon ruggles the feathers all over her body and cries shrilly to intimidate the foe. Latias are also highly intelligent and capable of understand human speech. She is covered with a glass-like down. The pokemon enfolds her body within her down and refracts light to alter her appearance. There are no known Latias nests in this region. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

"So that's how you can turn into Levy and I…" I looked back up at the pokemon and pocketed the pokedex. "Are you all by yourself on this island?"

She shook her head before pointing off in the direction of where Alex had gone and I suddenly saw a blast. I gasped looked back to Lati.

"Can you take us over there? I think your friend is fighting my boyfriend." Lati nodded and lowered herself so I could jump on and pull Levy up too. Lati took off like a bullet to the other part of the island over where the nests had been and I was quick to see the friend of Lati's. It looked just like her in shape, but slightly bigger and a neon green in color for its body and a light grey neck. The triangle on its chest was red and its eyes were a deep red in color.

The pokemon seemed to cry out and lashed out against Alex in high speed attacks. Alex cried out as they hit, but he never lost his ground.

"Alex!" I jumped off of Lati and rushed to his side while Lati was quick to put her body before the other pokemon.

"Ra ra!" The larger one cried out, telling Lati to move.

"Na!" She shook her head Levy rubbed her neck while still on her back.

"Come on you two, can't we work something out?" the little girl cried out. "Don't be like this Lato, they're with me!"

I turned to Alex. "What happened?"

"I was checking out the nest again and when I came across some sort of glass orb, that pokemon attacked me." Alex groaned as he pulled the said item out of his jean pocket. It was a beautiful, glittering sphere of purple, blue and green colors. The glittering seemed to be the most condensed in the middle of the said item as I looked at it.

"Violet we need to give the soul dew back." I looked over to Levy as she looked back at me. "It belongs to them, especially Lati. It's her brother's soul."

"What do you mean by that Levy?"

The girl looked worriedly over to the two pokemon. Lati seemed to nod at her while Lato huffed, but he calmed down a bit.

"It was a few years ago. Lati's brother Latios and her were flying over this island when bad people came here and attached them, wanting there power. They met up with Lato while they were captured and Lati's brother gave his life so that Lati and Lato could escape. When her brother died, his soul became this soul dew and one of the only ways to remember him, and it apparently happens when a Latios or Latias gives up their lives for another. The two of them have stayed here since then."

I slowly nodded my head while I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it to Lato. He huffed at me and growled at the device but I held up my hands. "This thing is just gonna tell me a bit about you, nothing more."

The beast growled.

I held it up again and looked down at the screen. _Latios, the eon pokemon. Latios has the ability to let his foe see an image of what he has seen or imagines in his head. This pokemon is intelligent and understands human speech. Latios will only open his heart to a trainer with a compassionate spirit. This pokemon can fly faster then a jet plane by folding his forelegs to minimize air resistance. There are no known nests in this region. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

I plucked the item from Alex's hand and walked over to the two pokemon. I held it out for them to grab and Lati was quick to take it, holding it closer to her chest before flying up to Lato and rubbing her head against his. He seemed to calm down a bit and looked at me with a new set of eyes.

"Were sorry for bothering you, but were looking for a woman and a man who has been causing a lot of trouble and evil in our world. We came to this island seeing if maybe they had been here."

"Ra?" Lato's tuffs on his head seemed to pick up and his eyes widened. "Ra?"

"Yes, a man with red hair, his sister was wounded." My eyes widened. "Have you seen him?"

"Ra!" Lato nodded and his eyes were quick to glow as images were quick to flood into my head.

I watched from up in the woods on this island as Razi seemed to appear in the middle of the field. He was looking around for food with his mismagius at his side. I watched as he seemed to gather some berries here with healing properties before he would take off toward the direction of the Battle Frontier. Lato didn't seem to peruse him, which was probably the best thing since Razi was dangerous enough on his own.

"So we gotta back track, by a lot. We're in the wrong area. Islands all around the Battle Frontier and probably the park itself is where we have to look." I turned back to the pair of eon pokemon. "Thank you, but you two better get somewhere far away from here. If that woman knew you existed, she'd be after you. She's obsessed with pokemon of rare colors, you see."

"Ra?" the male pokemon's face paled at the thought.

"Yeah, she's right. We have friends that are shinies that are in danger of her as well." Alex moved next to me and placed an arm around my waist. "We got to get them out of here and fast."

"Maybe we could leave them with Professor Birch?" I looked over my shoulder at him with a questioning look. "I left Kyanite with your grandfather years ago and she's still safe. We just need to keep them away from here. I have this bad feeling that after the supposed fight we'll have with Rose she'll get away to another area."

"I could take them!" Both Alex and I blinked as we looked at Levy in shock.

"Levy, these aren't just legendary and rare pokemon we have here, but shinies as well!" Alex scolded her. "Do you really think you could handle it?"

"Yes I could! I have Mr. Mewtwo and Bibi too you know! I am not helpless!" The girl shouted back at us and I was surprised how much effect it seemed to have on us. Both Alex and I matched each other in looks with shocked eyes and raised eye brows. Levy didn't give us a chance to recover though. "I could take care of them and train with them! We could learn how to not be afraid of that woman and fight! In two years, that contract you signed with my parents in null-in-void! And I plan to help out in any way possible to take her down so that little kids like me and pokemon like them don't have to be afraid anymore!"

I sighed. She was more then right. The little girl was getting wiser and more powerful by the day, with a team of legendary pokemon at her side, it would be impossible to contain her.

I turned my head to the pokemon. "So what do you two want to do? You should have a say in this as well, it is your own lives."

"Na!" Lati was quick to land at Levi's side. I noticed that two of them seemed to have taken an extreme liking to Levy, which means they'd be with her. Two shinies on a minor's team that were legendaries. _Great… I better up her training…_

Lato was also at her side soon. The two of them were both in Levy's arms as she calmed them down. I heard Alex sigh above me. He was thinking the exact same thing I was. He always was.

"I'm assuming yes then?" I looked over at Alex when he questioned me.

"Not like we have much choice. If they want to be with Levy, who are we to stop them?"

'Thank you Violet!" Levy cheered and pulled out some pokeballs for her two new pokemon. "Lati! Lato! Come here and let's capture you so your safe from her and then we need to get out of here!"

"Na?" Lati held out the soul dew item in her hands. Levy took hold of it and put it in her bag.

"I promise to look after it with my life. And you'll be there too to make sure I don't loose it!" She grinned at them before they turned to each other and Lato nodded to the younger female. He tapped his head off of the pokeball and was captured in. Soon, Lati followed right behind and went into the other one. Both pokemon were captured and I was shocked to see that their pokeballs turned into similar looking soul dew in color and shine. Levy gapped at them before I raced to grab her hand and called out Sapphire. I quickly climbed on and Alex got on Zapdos while Levy called on her psychic abilities with all four of her pokemon now watching her.

"Let's get going you guys; we have a better idea of where Rose is now. We gotta find her before she does something stupid and kills an entire island!"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Darkness and had spend many hours wondering about many rooms and facing many more challenges. We had many more trainers face us, but some were so scared that they took off running and said they'd quit. Other rooms I ran into problems of timid pokemon with their partners that nearly attacked us in shock. I was able to use protect to shield us, but you never knew. Other rooms we would be in an wild pokemon infested maze that was covered in a dense fog. It would take us forever to get through some of those rooms.

And that was where we where then. Darkness and I stayed close, my arm gently holding onto his to prevent separation. We'd been running around in their area for a good hour of so. Even with our advanced abilities, it made it hard to see much further then a few feet, and these rooms seemed to go on for miles at times.

"Latias damnit…" I hissed as more pokemon suddenly flocked toward us, ready to fight. "Take them out Darkness; we need to get out of this maze!"

"Dusk!" he cried out and both of his fists were covered in fire and ice. He threw both at the pokemon herds that came at us. Darkness was quick to take them all out and make some space to see through the fog and move forward some more.

"Over there Darkness!" I finally saw it, the exit. I rushed forward, Darkness' hand in my own as we made it to the teleporter and finally made it through. I sighed when we finally made it out of the foggy room and I collapsed to the floor.

"Thank damn Latias! I hate it when I get to that room!" I gasped for the clean air in this room and sighed as I leaned against the cold floor.

"Jez, is that you?" I lifted my head and looked over to the side and surprisingly I saw Casey over me. I grinned when I saw him and jumped to hug him.

"Casey! Man am I glad to see you!" He returned the hug and actually managed to throw me around once, making me laugh before he set me back down on my feet. "I've been wandering around in circles in those foggy rooms with hordes of pokemon for hours! It's so hard to work around them!"

"I know the feeling; it's been really hard to get through those areas. I bet Mattie and Aria are having similar luck in there that we were." He shook his head and Froslass appeared at his side, happy to see Darkness. The two of them blushed as they came close to each other and I grinned at them.

"Careful not to get too mushy here you two, we will haven't gotten through." Darkness sighed, but nodded and settled for taking the female ghost's hand and dancing around the room. I snorted and looked at Casey.

"Didn't I just tell them…"

"Forget it Jez, they're in love." He shook his head and watched the pair as well as slow danced all across the floor.

"It is sweet to see that though."

"It really is Jez," he turned to look back at me. "Do you think this will happen to all of our pokemon?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe our teams just got lucky?"

"That would work too I guess…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt…" We looked over past us and saw a woman who attended this place. She bowed her head to us before pointing at me. "You… a terrifying event… yes a horrible one… is about to befall you… no matter which curtain you choose…."

I raised an eye brown as the woman returned to her post. Casey looked at me as well with a similar look to mine.

"I think you may have reached the end Jez."

I slowly nodded my head. "I think so too." I looked to the couple, who had been stunned by the woman. "Come on Darkness. Let's finish this up and then when Froslass gets through this all too, you can spend as much time as you want with her."

"Dusk." His response was strait and quick for once, a rare treat from him. He kissed the hand of the female he danced with and bid her adieu before rushing off with me toward the curtains. The woman had said it didn't matter which one we chose, all would befall us the same fate…

"Let's just go right up the middle Darkness, no fooling around here." He grinned and nodded with me and followed me through the curtain. I heard the strange sound it made before we vanished into another room. As soon as we arrived, I saw one of the women here, she looked grim, but had a smile plastered to her face.

"Since you have chosen this room, I'm allowed to give you a healing object to heal your pokemon with." She handed me a potion and I slowly took it from her hands, making sure the object had not been tampered with before using it on Darkness' tiny and very few wounds that never would have bothered him, but it wasn't a bad thing to use it anyway. "Please follow me; I will lead you to our queen…"

The woman led us through to the teleporter and once again we ended up into another room, this one with a huge battlefield. I saw that people had gathered from outside to watch the match and many cameras were around to show the other contestants the battle here as well.

I looked to the other side of the field and watched as a woman stepped forward that had a seviper wrapped around her body that was quick to slither off and make its way onto the field. The woman glanced over at me, her mouth and face playing to either show me a grin or a glare, almost settling for both. The woman had sleek long, black hair with two large portions of it on the sides of her face that had red streaks in them, reminding me of her seviper. Her body was thin, pale white, and covered with a purple top, that only stretched down to below her upper chest and reached around her neck. Her arms were bare other then the purple gloves she wore of the same color of her shirt and her pants a jet back. Purple high heeled shoes on her feet. I could see that her eyes were red in color.

"I am Lucy, I am the law here, for I am the Pike Queen. You already know it, but to advance, you must defeat me… I'm not one for idle chatter. Hurry. Come on. Your luck…" She then grinned madly. "I hope you didn't use it all up to get here."

"Fine by me!" I turned to my pokemon. "Let's go Darkness."

My ghost pokemon grinned and floated out onto the field. His face was filled with an evil excitement, ready to crush the seviper into the ground. The seviper hissed loudly in response to my pokemon's look and swung its tail angrily at the ground. The ground shattered from the impact and many people in the audience gasped, but Darkness never changed his look or moved at all, just continued to float in the mid air and watch his opponent.

"I refuse to give you the first move! Seviper, start out with poison tail!" The seviper charged on Lucy's order and its tail covered with a sickly looking acid that seemed to bubble upon the skin. It was neon purple in color and glowed, as if it was radioactive.

"Dodge Darkness, fade out!" My pokemon vanished from sight and the seviper was left out on the field alone. It hissed madly and looked around trying to find my pokemon, only to see nothing but the thin air.

"Come out and fight coward!" Lucy snapped as she looked at me.

"We not cowards." I grinned. "We're just crafty when fighting." I could sense Darkness at my side. "Attack Darkness, ominous wind!"

"Dusk!" The marks on his body just barely could be seen as the souls lashed out of his body to grab at the seviper. It was run over by the attack and the pokemon cried out as Lucy could only watch in horror as her pokemon was over run by this attack.

"Seviper!" she hissed out angrily. "Dig!"

"Sev!" The pokemon was quick to leap into the air and vanish from sight, but the attack was fast on the same trail. The attack followed the seviper down the same hole.

I gave Darkness a light look. "Watch out for it Darkness, I'm sure it's going to try and come after you."

"Dusk…" He nodded to me and raised his body higher into the air just in time for the seviper to jump out of the ground below him. The seviper missed and didn't get enough air on Darkness.

"Poison fang!" The seviper's mouth was suddenly covered in the same purple acid as before, but on its fangs. It turned backward to latch onto Darkness' arm with its tail and threw its head up to sink its teeth into Darkness.

"Fade!" Darkness' attack was returned to his stomach and he faded out. Once he was invisible, the seviper no longer had a grip on his arm either and fell to the ground. Once again, this pokemon was left to an empty room.

"Stop hiding!" Lucy growled, clenching her fists and angrily huffing. _I didn't know it was possible to do that all at once…_

"Fine, you want me to attack?" I grinned at her. "I'll attack! Thunder punch!"

"Dusk!" Darkness appeared right behind the seviper and was slammed with the large fist of my ghost pokemon. I watched as the pokemon was thrown off into the wall to the side and was stuck there. Darkness slowly approached as the enemy pokemon nervously tried to wiggle out of the wall, but it wasn't working.

"Now use fire and ice punch combination!"

"Dusk…" I could see him grinning madly, his stomach actually glowing bright as he launched himself forward and threw both fists together at the seviper.

"Flamethrower!" I blinked in shock as fire came firing back at my pokemon. Darkness cried out, but still came forward with his attack and hit head on. The pokemon was crushed into the wall, but that surprise attack left Darkness with some burn wounds. He hissed at them, but brushed them off by running his ice covered hand over the burns, easing them while he was still in battle.

"Seviper!" Lucy called out and rushed out onto the field. Darkness backed off and I came out onto the field as well. Lucy rushed into the crumbled wall and found that her seviper was there, but it was crushed and covered in burns and frozen pieces of ice all over its body. Its eyes were in circles and Lucy growled when she saw she lost.

Lucy turned back to me, her eyes glaring, as if she was about to say 'how dare you beat me?' But instead, the woman was silent before she sighed and returned her pokemon and walked over to me. She held out her hand.

"Give me your frontier case…"

I pulled it out of my pocket and she pulled a symbol out of her pocket and handed the case back to me. I noticed I had a fourth symbol in there now and it looked like the outline of a six sided gem was on a gold symbol. I grinned as I got it.

"That makes only three left. We're over halfway."

"That's all, get out." Lucy suddenly took off then and I could see the anger radiating off of her from losing. I assumed it didn't happen very often.

Well then she was going to be pretty pissed by the end of the day when my friends were done with her…

**Witch's Note:**

**Alright! That's another chapter down and another symbol for Jez! Were getting close and closer to the ending of this story! We're now down to only four chapters left! Can any of you believe it! And this is one of the longest pokemon stories I've had so far. In fact, I think this **_**is**_** one of the longest stories (chapter wise) that I've had so far! I can't believe it!**

**So now Jez has four symbols and Violet's discovered that Rose is either near or on the Battle Frontier. Levy also has two new pokemon (both shinies!) to add to her team! What do you think will happen within the next couple chapters? We only have so long before the end is near and we have Rose attack, the end of the Battle Frontier, and who knows what else!**

**So let me know what you guys all thought of this new chapter and let me know what you think! Remember to Review and send in Questions since we don't have much time left! I love you all and I'll see you next week!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	34. A Fancy Battle

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 34: A Fancy Battle_

**Gwyn's Point of View:**

Things were all over the place. I was so worried for both the parties that I had to work with. Violet was freaking out over Rose and trying to find her before she could make another move, and she had every right to be worried, but she was over turning every stone and what not now in order to find her and was wear herself thin. Since getting the most recent lead on Rose and Razi, she was able to finally sleep for a few more hours then normal, but she was up too early to go and look for her hiding spot again. It was going to get even worse now that Violet had a solid lead.

Jezebel was no better. She was on a fast pace to complete the Battle Frontier and prove her strength to Violet in order to go after Rose as well. She still harbored a horrible anger inside of her from the death of her mother. I know that the younger girl wants to kill Rose, Razi too if she had the chance. Jezebel would do anything to make that woman suffer, make her feel the agony of what we've felt due to her own actions upon us all, before killing her. I mean, all of us had our reasons for killing Rose, but Jezebel… her's was more… personal, like revenge, settling a score.

And it scared me a bit that I knew she'd do it.

**Violet's Point of View:**

With a new lead, things would finally start to look up for us. Alex and I had devised plans for hours about how we would be checking out each different area. Once Alex and I had devised what would work best, I called our entire group to the room Alex and I were staying out to discus our plan.

"Alright everyone, here's where we'll begin." I pulled out a map of the area surrounding the Battle Frontier by about twenty miles or so off its shore. We had multiple small islands that we would have to check out, not to mention the town Pacificlog, the lower half of the island of Evergand City, and the island where Jezebel found Empyrean, the Sky Pillar. The places that were more in our sights were the town and the pillar and closer smaller islands, but it wouldn't hurt to check out Evergrand too.

"We'll start by splitting up into three groups," Alex stated as he started pointing to different sections. "Vince, Aaron and Levy, we'll have you cover the larger area of the southern part of Evergrand. With three of you, you'll have more eyes to see on the more amounts of land."

"Got it Alex." Vince nodded and gathered together with his group.

"Next will be Gwyn and Tristan," I pointed to the area of the tower and the small floating town. "We need you guys to check out these areas next to see if Rose and Razi had traveled to that far north. I don't want to believe so because of how little activity there is for Rose to deal with once she's healed, but its better to check then not. Ask around with the folks. Try not to worry them if possible, but if they get concerned, tell them the truth."

"Right Violet." Tristan was the one who responded. Gwyn looked worriedly over at me and I sighed at her.

"I'll be fine Gwyn, you don't need to worry about me." The girl's look didn't change, but she did look away from me.

"And for Violet and I, we'll check around the small islands off the coast here of the Battle Frontier." Alex pointed to the few islands we had around this larger one. Alex looked back up at the others and nodded. "The plan after this people is to check out the main island if we have no solid leads. With this being such a busy place of tourists, it wouldn't surprise me if Rose was hidden here, but we will check outward first for the more isolated locations first, to be on the safe side. Tomorrow we'll check out the Battle Frontier and try to check as many locations as possible. We'll also ask Jezebel and her friends for help in searching around their challenges here. They are as much apart of this as we are."

Gwyn's eyes flashed over to me as Alex said that. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"What is it Gwyn?"

"This is beyond ridiculous! You're going to ask those four kids to help? Haven't they been through enough and should you really be having Jezebel help out when she's hell bent on trying to kill Rose in revenge for her mother?"

"And you wouldn't want to do the same if it was one of your parents?" My words were law here, and while my sister champion always had a right to say what she wanted and would try to convince me as much as she could, this was a subject she couldn't do that with. Jezebel had the right as someone who lost a family member to Rose and also being strong enough to join our ranks. And she would be joining them soon. She was nearly there as it was. "You're not going to change my decision on this Gwyn. Rose needs to be stopped, and frankly, I wouldn't mind having Jezebel's power on our side."

"I do if she goes crazy again and starts attacking everyone!" Gwyn fought back. "We couldn't stop her before Violet, what if we're endangering people right now with her?"

"It's been a long time since then, Jezebel isn't about to hurt anyone. She's had more control over her changeling form then before and all of us have had bad experiences becoming changeling-"

"Don't you dare bring up the Goldenrod incident! At least you could stop me when I went out of control! It took the entire league and she _still _could only be stopped by Mattie! That girl could hurt or _kill_ someone-"

"Enough!" My shrill silenced her. She lowered her head. I looked around to the others. "I highly believe in Jezebel, but if any others of you do have fears about her or things that you've noticed you want to bring to the surface, say so now."

The room was silent all for a few moments before I saw Levy lift her hand. I nodded to the young girl and she stood before the others.

"I think we should let Jezebel help out. She's more then proved her strength and where her heart is in the heat of a battle. She won't attack anyone that she knows isn't an enemy. Last time that happened, which was only once," Gwyn glared at her, "was a mistake. But we can't hold her for the single mistake she made because of how messed up everything was for her family. Her whole world was a lie, and then, when she realized it wasn't anymore, she finally was on the very path she always wanted to be on. We can't criticize her for one mistake; we should be helping her learn so it _won't_ happen again."

"Well said Levy." I nodded to her and clapped a time or two. I looked back toward the men. "Anything you all want to say?"

"I'll stand by whatever decision you make." Alex was short in his reply, but I expected not much else from him. Alex and I always had an unspoken bond, especially since we became a couple. We just _knew_ what each other was thinking; it made it a lot easier to make decisions based off of that. He and I have both noticed that Jezebel is a powerful changeling, and she is hard to control at times because of how wild and full of anger she is, but that doesn't mean her loyalty and values match her attitude. Jezebel has always been loyal to helping others and already wanted to take down Rose before she got in so deep.

"I'm okay with Jez, she can control it," Vince voiced his opinion. "The girl's more then proved herself since then, she's done no more damage the any of us."

"Sorry Gwyn…" Tristan rubbed the back of his head. "I have to agree with the others…"

"…Me too…" Gwyn whipped her head between the two boys of her age and her eyes were wide. All of us were against her.

"Gwyn," my sister champion turned to face me, "what's the real reason you're so worried about her?"

The girl lowered her head. The fire lost from her eyes, but worry soon washed over them. "Violet, I'm worried what happened at the space station will happen again. I watched as people ran and screamed in terror as Jezebel came closer. That mindless rage…" She hugged herself. "We all have it… don't we?"

"If the requirements are met, then yes. Although, we all have it inside us, we just choose to let it out or not."

"How do we know its not going to happen again?" my present sister champion asked me quietly.

"We don't, but I believe in Jezebel that it won't." I set my hand on her shoulder, sighing as I felt the conversation's pent up emotions calming down. "Do you trust me Gwyn?"

She never even blinked at me. "Of course."

"Then believe me when I say that I believe in her." I turned to the others. "Now that we have that out of the way, we all know the plan right? If so, move out. We're burning daylight."

My league was quick to rush out and look to find any sort of hint that Rose was near by us. It wouldn't be long now before we would find the woman again, and be given another shot at killing her or capture. But I was hoping on the first of the two.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It was another day for us to be facing off in the Battle Frontier for my friends and I. After my win at the Battle Pike yesterday, I stuck around in that battle room and watched as my friends won as well. Lucy was quite _pissed_ by the end of the day. So today, moving on from her, we're heading to the Battle Dome, a place of apparent tournaments taking place. I was excited for that, but it would still feel a bit weird for me to be in the field before a crowd of people again. I'm just not quite used to it yet.

Today, Empyrean wanted to be my partner. Not that I blame her. She's been roaring for a good battle for a while now since we battled in the Pokѐmon League and she tied with Drake's salamence. She nearly destroyed part of the hotel we were staying at all because she was so excited.

"So you guys, we ready to all head out?" I walked up to my three friends with Empyrean's pokeball right in my hand, ready to go at any time.

"I am." Mattie was quick to his feet and at my side. He took my hand before we looked to the other couple, who looked at each other.

"Actually, we're gonna hang back for an hour or two and go out on a date together before we battle again." Casey said as he took hold of Aria shoulders and pulled her against him.

"It's been a while sine we actually got to spend some quality time together since your championship." Aria smiled at us. "Go on and have some fun and we'll catch up with you later."

"Oh… okay." I shrugged. "Let's head out then Mattie." My boyfriend nodded and we took off out of the building, leaving our two friends behind.

"I can't wait to battle today Jezebel! I'm so excited!" Mattie was brimming with eagerness as we headed toward the Battle Dome on the other side of the island.

"I am too, but maybe later today we should take a page from Aria and Casey's book and go on a date." I turned nervously to look at Mattie. "We technically haven't done that before… and my father wouldn't expect it of us…"

"Yeah… I've wanted to ask you… but I was too nervous… and the high of being in all of these battles have been making me go crazy…" Mattie's face was red.

"Why don't we do it tonight, after we finish the Battle Dome then?" My shyness was slowly fading as we got out the subject. "We could go out to dinner to celebrate our winnings and our first date all in one."

"That sounds good!" Mattie grinned and I eased up entirely when he did.

"Now let's head over and get started then, I'm more then excited for this day."

Mattie grinned as well. "Yeah!"

**Aria's Point of View:**

After Jez and Mattie had left, Casey and I took off toward a small café that Casey had seen a few days ago and wanted to take me out to. It was adorable in color with bright cream color to draw us in. We were seated at white, metal seats and menus were left on our table for us to look through.

"Oh this place is so cute!" I grinned at my boyfriend. "We should come out to places like this more often."

"Yeah, this kind of place gives the kind of atmosphere for enjoying others company or you could really concentrate on work, depending on what matters at the moment." Casey smiled as he looked at me. "So do you have any idea what you want for your meal yet?"

"Um…" I pondered as I looked over the menu. "I'm not sure yet, but I'm looking at the vanilla waffle special. That looks nice."

"Oh yeah, that does sound good." Casey looked at the item of interest before he looked at another item on the other side of the menu. "I was thinking about the breakfast sandwich made out of those big pieces of Kanto toast, with a side of sunny side eggs."

"I'm not really in the mood for something like that today, but also a good choice." I gave him a simple nod before turning back to the menu.

"How are you two today?" A waitress approached us and smiled. "Welcome to Supreme Café today, my name is Lily and I'll be your waitress this morning. Can I start either of you two off with a drink?"

"I'd actually like a coco this morning, get the heat going and make my body warm up before battle." I grinned at the young woman.

Casey smiled. "I'll have one too actually. A nice coco sounds pretty good."

"Two cocos then," the waitress noted as she dotted it down on her pad. "I'll get started on those right away. Would you like a few more minutes with the menus or would you two like to order?"

I turned to look at Casey. "What do you want to do? I'm more then ready."

Casey turned back to the woman. "Sure, we'll order now then." He paused for a moment to find his desired meal. "I'll have the Kanto breakfast sandwich with a side of sunny side up eggs."

"And I'll have the vanilla waffle special."

"Wonderful choices!" She bounced up when she had our orders. "I'll get those right in and get your coco for you both in just a minute or so! Please enjoy your time with us!" She scooted off then and I shook my head at her.

"That is one preppy girl, that's for sure." Casey snorted and laughed at my words.

"Yeah, but this world wouldn't be as funny without nice people that acted like her."

"I'll say." I pouted when I looked off in the distance. "You think our pokemon are okay just hanging out on the water right now? What if someone bothers them?"

"Don't worry about that, Norman said he'd go down with them and his family. We just need to enjoy our time here and we'll go get them before we head over to the tournaments at the Battle Dome."

I shrugged. "If you say so."

"And here are your coco's!" The woman was soon back with our drinks, but I couldn't help but look toward the shore. Something was glittering purple.

_I definitely plan on checking that out._

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

A short while later, Mattie and I made it all the way over to where the Battle Dome was located. It was a large white building with light blue tinted doors and windows with a bright red roof. It was interesting to see how the colors blended and momentarily blinded me.

"Well, this place sure is… bright…"

"I know…" Mattie groaned as he looked at it. "Maybe… It's the leader's favorite colors?"

I shrugged. "Well, maybe it will look better on the inside. Let's head in and get signed up. I'm more then ready to compete."

Mattie nodded to me and we made our way inside the radically colored building. Once inside, I noticed that it had dark and light green colored tile floor as well as two reception areas, for double and single battle it appeared. White walls were all over the place, but I noticed that professionally taken photos were all over the place of what seemed to be the people who had beaten this place. Although, most of them were of the IPHP League…

Since Empyrean was the only one I was battling with today, and Poseidon with Mattie, we decided to head over to the single side of things and get signed up there. We walked up to the small line that was there and were quick to get in before more showed up behind us in record time. With a loud crowd behind us, Mattie and I silently waited for our turn.

Women in bright pink uniforms stood before at the counters and many more were lined up behind them. There seemed to be armies of them. It reminded me a bit of the Battle Pike in where all the employees wore the same thing, but were able to style their hair differently or had different color eyes. It was that was here to, the woman had a mid-tone shade of blue hair. The woman that I noticed was letting people in had strait blue hair that had a bright shine to it in the light. She smiled when she saw us.

"Ah, I was wondering when the Battle Dome would see you two, Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling."

"And we were hoping to compete." I grinned back at her. "Anyway we can get in?"

"Of course." She moved out of the way and allowed us through. "I'll personally take you to your room." The woman led us off and away from the general area while another blue haired woman took her place and other assistants worked to move more trainers to other locations.

We were led deep into the white hallways with green flooring to a room where it seemed Mattie and I could rest as well as a healing machine for our pokemon to treat their injuries. There was a couple of couches there and the woman sat on one while we sat on the other. It was a nice room, just for the time in-between our matches.

"So here is where we will stay for the duration of your stay while in the Battle Dome. The rules here are simple. You both will be fighting in your own sets of tournaments randomly set up. You need to beat five tournaments in a row in order to face off against our leader." She stood for a moment and showed us the two walls on either side of our rooms. We watched as they rose and soon revealed glass windows that looked down onto two different battlefields on either side of the glass. "On this side of the dome we have all our single battles, in another section we hold all our double matches. From the room you two are staying in, you are able to see both." She then made her way to one of the windows and pointed out to the two fields outside. "Since we are having a rush of trainers coming in, we'll be splitting the two areas into four to allow more trainers to move through. If for some reason a person makes it all the way to facing off against our champion, Tucker Amor, we change the entire battle field to one large one and everyone is allowed a break to watch the match."

"Sounds fun!" I grinned and looked back at Mattie for a moment, a matching grin on his face before we turn back to the woman. "When can we start?"

"Right now if you'd like." She came over to a set of screens right behind us that showed us two different tournaments that we were placed in. It seems that we were both part of the first matches.

"Alright!" I jumped up from my seat and grabbed Empyrean's pokeball. "Let's get going then!"

**Aria's Point of View:**

Casey and I enjoyed our date very well before we headed over to the beach to meet up with our pokemon and Jezebel's family. Casey and I had enjoyed our time together, but I got slightly worried about our pokemon the entire time. I know that Casey could notice that during the date, but that didn't mean that he would stop trying to make it an enjoyable time.

When I got down to the beach with Casey, I was shocked to see a new pokemon that didn't seem to look like anyone I'd ever seen before. It was playing with my pokemon until it looked at me and vanished from sight. I blinked and looked for it, but it was no where to be seen. No one seemed to have noticed it but me and my pokemon. I rushed up to my team and looked at all of them.

"Who was that you guys?" They all gave me confused looks. "The pokemon you were playing with, the one with the purple gem on its chest? I could see it glowing from all the way over at the café I was eating at with Casey."

Sceptile, Metagross, Exploud and Aggron all looked at each other while Shelgon just shrugged and started to walk along the beach to the area off to the side where an entrance to a cave was. I looked toward the smallest of my pokemon and worriedly followed him.

"Shelgon! Where are you going?" I followed after him and rushed inside the cave, with my entire team chasing after me.

Upon entering the cave, I noticed that there was a lot of drawings on the walls, some of them basic as if they were done by young children and inexperienced people, the others were amazing and intricate designs and drawings. It must have been the Artisan Cave that I'd heard about from Levy. On our first day here she went into the cave and spend the entire day with the smeargle that lived there. But does that other pokemon live here too? Or was Shelgon just going on a random walk?

I followed after my dragon pokemon to what appeared to be a nest of sorts that was made of rocks on the outside and soft grasses on the inside. I couldn't see anything as I looked into it, but Shelgon proceeded to sit in the nest and relax. His body seemed to rest up against something and that's when I took a look next to him. The area slightly faded next to Shelgon, like it was… fake? I reached forward and my hand connected with something cool to the touch.

I blinked my eyes, and as fast as I did, the creature appeared before me again. My eyes widened as I took in the pokemon's appearance. It was tall and actually seemed to resemble a human's shape somewhat, other then the black and red colors all over its body. It seemed like it was covered in an armor of sorts that was all over its body. There was some light blue color too, which was on the pokemon's face and on its hands that were covered over. A purple line seemed to go down in the middle of its face and two eyes appeared, but I could see no visible mouth. Maybe it teleported food inside of its body? It seemed to have two square pieces of its body sticking out on the side of its head. The glowing purple object that seemed to have caught my attention all those many times was the stone in the center of its chest.

"Whoa… who are you?"

The pokemon seemed to spew out some sounds, but they were hard to make out and translate. I scrunched my eyebrows as I looked at the pokemon, not sure what it said at all.

"I don't understand."

The pokemon blinked at me, as if it seemed to not understand me either. I then felt the pokemon use a psychic attack upon my mind and it searched through all my memories. I flinched and grabbed onto the bed as it invaded my head, but I was unable to cry out.

_I am… Deoxys…_ I gasped as I heard the pokemon talking in my head. It sounded like it was using my memories to learn my language so it could talk to me. _I am… what you call… a pokemon…_

"Yes… I've never seen a pokemon like you before. Are you from this region?"

I felt it lightly picking at my mind before the pokemon responded with a shake of _his_ head. _No… not from this world… I come from… space?_ The pokemon pointed to the ceiling, which I assumed he meant the sky and beyond the atmosphere. _I believe that is what… your people call it._

"Yeah, that's right." I nodded to the pokemon and I pulled out pokedex. The pokemon instantly backed away. "No! Its okay, this device won't hurt you at all, it may tell me a bit about you is all."

_Is there such… a device that would… allow me to know more about you?_

"Uh… I think a computer could tell you about humans, but not about me specifically. No different then I don't know about you specifically, but I can know a bit about your species."

_I… see…_

I pointed the pokedex up at him and an image of him appeared on the screen. _Deoxys, the DNA pokemon. Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space. It is highly intelligent and wields psychokinetic powers. This pokemon shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest, which appears to be its brain. When it changes form, an aurora appears. It absorbs attacks by altering is cellular structure. It can fool enemies by altering its appearance. There are no known deoxys nests in this region._

"So… you're a man made pokemon? But by accident?"

Deoyxs only tilted his head to the side while looking at me. He was more then confused by my question. I was a bit confused by my question as well. I shook my head and held out my hand, trying to remember my manors for the poor confused pokemon.

"Sorry for the confusing question. I'm as confused as you are and I'm not helping the situation. I'm Aria, Aria Charolette."

The pokemon looked at my outstretched hand for a moment before he slowly moved his own toward mine. It was almost in my grip before I heard footsteps and Deoyxs quickly vanished from sight, but I could feel his hands gently holding onto the sides of my body. I raised my eye brows in shock, but didn't question it. After all, I was probably the only human that Deoyxs had spoken to.

"Aria!" Casey was soon at my side. "Where did you run off to? You had me and the others worried! Your pokemon are freaking out on the beach and I saw Shelgon was gone too-"

"Relax Casey, Shelgon and I are right here." I pointed up into the nest where Shelgon appeared to be resting and Casey sighed as he looked over at him before back at me. "I was worried when I saw him wander off and I figured the others would be okay with you and Jez's family until I got back."

"Don't scare me like that again." Casey rushed forward and brought me into his arms. I felt Deoyxs move out of the way just in time as Casey had gotten close. He pecked my forehead as well before he pulled back. "Man did you have me worried."

"Sorry Casey." I rubbed the back of my head with my hand and I felt my elbow barely touch Deoxys. He seemed to move back into his original position behind me and held onto my arms gently.

_Who is this Aria?_

Casey sighed and turned around while I glanced back to the pokemon behind me.

"He's my boyfriend, Casey, look through my mind and memories; you might be able to understand." I suddenly felt that pain in my head again. It wasn't as bad as before, I was starting to get used to the feeling and it was starting to ease up a bit, but Casey still heard me groan at it. He turned to face me.

"Aria? Are you alright?" He hurried back over to me and he felt the set of hands that were already on my arms. Deoyxs couldn't move fast enough that time. Casey's eyes widened and he grabbed onto Deoyxs.

"Don't do that! He's worried enough as it is." Casey flinched at my tone, but still held onto the pokemon that was standing behind me.

"What is _he_?" Casey questioned.

"A pokemon, one that I've never seen before." I turned back to Deoyxs and sighed. "Go ahead and reveal yourself Deoyxs, he won't hurt you."

It was a few moments before I heard that grumbling cry like I did when he first tried to communicate with me. Deoyxs then appeared with his head lowered and Casey's eyes widened as he took in the strange new pokemon I'd come across with the help of Shelgon.

"My pokemon were playing with him on the beach when before we arrived, I could see the glittering purple stone on its chest from there. When I got to the beach, I just barely got a glimpse of him as he faded out before he took off into this cave. My other pokemon didn't know what to do, but Shelgon walked over into this cave and I followed him. I met Deoyxs in here. He's apparently a pokemon that was man made from what I gathered on my pokedex, a virus in space that came to life."

"Whoa… can I look at the data?"

"Yeah." I handed him my pokedex and he looked over the new page and started to mess around with my information. He stared at the pages with heavy interest before he came across something that seemed to confuse him. He looked back at the pokemon and then at me.

"So Deoyxs can change forms right? The pokedex is saying it has three other forms. The one that its in now is its 'normal' form, but it has three others, 'attack', 'defense' and 'speed'."

"Really?" I blinked at him. "Well, let's not overwhelm him; he's just trying to understand."

"Understand what?"

"Everything." I held out my hand again for the pokemon and it slowly reached for me again. Its hand landed in mine, but it suddenly turned into two smooth tentacles before reforming back into a hand. I gasped as I looked at that.

_My… hands tend to change form often…_

"I think that's pretty cool." I smiled up at the pokemon. "Would you like to stick around for a while and learn more about humans?"

_Stay? With you?_

"If your okay with that."

_I am… interested in humans… but also in "battling", which is done here as well?_

"Oh you mean the Battle Frontier!" I grinned at him. "Yeah, I'm actually going to compete there in a bit, do you want to watch?"

_Yes. May I?_ I nodded to him and reached into my bag to pull out a pokeball and showed it to him. _That… is a device you humans use to capture pokemon, yes?_

"Right, I'll only do it if you let me, but I figured that it would be a good idea since other people wouldn't be able to take you away from me and force you to do things you don't want to do like I won't. You can look in my mind for more information if you want."

He nodded and did as such. I could feel the pokemon moving about the thoughts and memories in my head once more to understand the need of a pokeball to keep him safe from others because of how different he is and how others would be chasing him like crazy.

Deoxys looked back at me once he was done with my memories. _You will keep me safe, yes Aria Charolette?_

"Of course I will Deoyxs." The pokemon then nodded to me before it slowly touched the pokeball. It quickly opened up and pulled Deoyxs inside. He was shocked and tried to pull away, but was pulled inside anyway. The ball glowed as he was drawn in and it shook a couple times before it settled and the ball turned a crystal violet color. It shone as the light hit it and I couldn't help but gape at it.

I then let Deoxys back out and he looked around at his surroundings before at the pokeball he now could call his own. He tilted his head in surprise at it before he moved around me in circles.

"Now let's get going then, we can show you how the battles go here on the Battle Frontier and-"

I was suddenly cut off by a cry from my shelgon. He had suddenly woken up and wobbled over the nest that Deoxys had made before his body became incased in a bright white light. Curved wings sprouted from his back and his body multiplied in size and a large tail shot out of him before the light vanished and I saw the long neck appear of his face. A salamence was born now, my salamence.

"I guess it was time for you buddy, wasn't it?" Salamence shrugged before he whipped his tail down on some nearby rocks and crushed them instantly. I could feel the power radiating off of him from his sudden evolution and I grinned. "Well let's test out your new strength; it's been far too long since you got to have a battle."

"Rhu!" he grinned at me.

**Third Person Point of View:**

In a room off on the top of the Battle Dome and overlooking all the battles was a man that was bouncing all over the walls as he watched as certain trainer making her way through his course. He bounced for joy as he realized that it would be time for him to battle someone. It'd been too long since the last.

"Oh joy! Show time! Show time!" The man was like a kid on a sugar rush. "Its time to shine and test the champion! Oh goodie! Its time to battle!"

"Sir-" An attendant was quick to come up and let him know of the ever approaching Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain and her boyfriend Matthew Ashling, but she was unable to do a thing as he danced about and pranced right by her.

"My public waits!"

"Wait sir! You don't even know anything about her for your match!"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Mattie and I were on winning streaks here in the dome. It was an incredible feeling to be in front of that roaring crowd. I normally wouldn't care for it much, but the cries of others seemed to get my adrenaline pumping even harder then normal, and it was getting to Empyrean and my other pokemon. Empyrean loved it since she could just toss her opponents out of the ring and none of them would care to heavily, it was just the roaring of _everything_…

Mattie and I were waiting up in our room again for the next match. We'd both made it up through four tournaments and were working on our fifth. I was only one battle away from making it to the final round and facing off against Tucker. He had entered himself into the tournament and was racing to get to the end. I'd seen a couple glimpses of him fluttering around the dome. His fans would freak out at him all the time, crushing and gushing over him. It sickened me a bit, but the adrenaline kept me going.

I waited on the attendant to come up and get me for my final match that would show if I would make it to the end. From the way many trainers seemed to be battling, it seemed like I would make it to the end, but I had been fooled before. Good challenges have come up here and there that have fooled me into thinking that I could possibly not be going onto the next match. But I end up beating them anyway.

"Shall we go Miss Champion?" The attendant soon returned and I was quick to return and questioned me on my next match.

"Of course I am. I'm ready." The attendant nodded and turned toward the door to lead us out. I turned back to Mattie and gave him a quick peck. "I'll see you later."

"Good luck!" Mattie grinned at me as I left then.

It took hardly any time to be led down to the battlefield. I'd been walked down here a few too many times that the path has been unconsciously programmed in my brain. It would take forever to get rid of once I was done here and got the battle symbol of the Battle Dome.

I was led up to the platform where I would be battling and I could see that there was another three battles going. People were cheering like crazy and as soon as I came out, even more began to. The attendant that brought me out hung by the door that led us into this small area and talked to another attendant to say that I was ready for the next battle.

I soon saw the other trainer come out on the other side. I was actually shocked when I saw who it was. Red hair graced me with the thin, pale figure and the beauty I knew as my best friend stood before me.

"Aria?" I blinked at the girl as she stood on the other side of the field. I sighed. "Well I guess I'm going to be forced to go against one of my friends after all."

"Sorry Jez, but Casey and I just got her, and once we get done tonight, I've got something really cool to show you that Casey and I found! A new pokemon that joined my team!"

"Well I guess I'll have to see him later, shall we get started?"

"Yep!" She grinned and pulled out her pokeball. "Let's go Salamence!" I was shocked to see that her dragon had finally evolved from its lumbering form of a shelgon. It was massive in size and looked ready to tear apart some pokemon. It'd been a long time since the poor pokemon had evolved last and battled, and it was more then ready to make up for it.

"Alright then Aria, don't hold back, because I won't!" I grinned and pulled out the emerald pokeball and I saw Aria flinch when she saw it. "Let's go Empyrean!"

My legendary beast of the sky emerged and she roared out, ready for a more then half decent battle.

"I guess I got my work cut out for me… but we'll do it!" Aria clenched her teeth as she thought about what she could do. "Start out with aerial ace!"

Salamence suddenly launched itself forward and slammed its body into Empyrean. She was startled by the attack and knocked over. The crowd gasped in surprise to see Empyrean take a hit, she hadn't all day.

"Empyrean! Lash back at him!" From where she landed, her tail rushed out and smacked the dragon type. He was thrown back and the crowds all around were shouting at the top of their lungs. The adrenaline started in and I felt it go crazy as everything felt numb as I moved forward in the battle.

"Hang in there Salamence!" Aria shouted as her pokemon was thrown back next to her. His claws dug into the ground and stopped his movement and roared out, ready for another attack. Empyrean whipped her tail around like an ekans or seviper and hissed at him. They were the greatest of friends out of battle, but here, they were mortal enemies.

"Now! Use dragon rage!" The salamence was quick to jump into the air and take to the sky above as he fired down upon Empyrean with his attack and it hit her head on. Empyrean cried out as the attack hit her, but she didn't move much. The attack seemed to piss her off more then it did bother her. She roared before she took to the sky as well and glared at the other pokemon.

"I'm not about to mess around with you Aria, so I'll put your newly evolved pokemon to the test!" I grinned. "Draco meteor!"

The attack was soon racing down from the ceiling above as Empyrean cried out. Aria gasped for a moment before she glared at me as well.

"And we'll attack you just as hard. Salamence! Use Draco meteor too!" From both sides came the crashing meteors on either side of the field. The crowd cheered in amazement and horror as it came down and the meteors created a large explosion that caused the entire field to go white.

It was a few many seconds after that, we heard some movement on the field. I heard a roaring cry, prideful and eager of victory. I saw the heavy dust cloud that covered the field slowly drift away and fade as the meteors were soon revealed to be indented and stuck inside the field. They were still glowing with the purple, black and red energy. It was interesting to watch as it slowly flickered like a flame. I looked beyond them and soon grinned as I saw who was still on their feet.

Empyrean stood strong with some minimal damage on her body as she grinned out to the crowd above and around her. I was quick to see that Salamence was down and out and Aria sighed as she approached him.

"Sorry buddy, great job though, we'll get back at her later." She returned him to his pokeball and smiled over at me. "Don't worry about me Jez! I'll just start over and make my way back up! You go get your symbol!"

"Oh don't worry Aria, I plan to!" I grinned as she made her way off the stage and I quickly headed back to the assistant. She smiled at me and held out her hand.

"Shall I heal your pokemon? You will be facing our champion now." I nodded and returned Empyrean for only a moment so she could be healed and I watched as the battlefields were cleared and I was quick to see that it became one solid field.

The time had finally arrived; I would face the champion here for his symbol…

I heard large amounts of cheering from around the entire field as the man was out again and prancing around, taking hold of the hands of his fans and slowly making his way up to the stage while he stopped to flatter the people with himself.

Once Empyrean was done being healed, I made my way over to the box where I was supposed to stand and waited on the man to ready himself to battle me. His hair looked quite… decked out as it was curled and pulled into a mass of different ways that others seemed to adore. It was a purple/maroon color while his outfit was white and purple, the same shade as his hair. Wings seemed to be attached to his back and the clothing he wore was like a body suit that sparkled when the light hit it.

_Much too showy and girly for my tastes…_

"Oh its time, its time!" the champion bounced himself across the stage and over to me and shook my hand suddenly, throwing my arm around. "Oh the champion is here! Champion Jezebel! I'm so excited to battle you here!" Sparkling amethyst eyes gazed into my own and I felt a shiver run up my spine from how close he was to me. I wasn't one much for other people being in my personal space, _especially_ when I didn't know them. "I'm the champion here! Tucker Amor!"

"Cool, uh… not to be rude… but… a little space please?" Tucker blinked for a moment before he flew off of me and nervously stood a few feet away.

"Oh! So sorry! I forget that you're not the type of person who likes a lot of that kind of behavior!" I breathed as he smiled again. "Anywho, shall we start this battle? I know you much be itching to fight as much as I am!"

"Now that's more my style!" I pulled out Empyrean's pokeball and threw it out into the air. "Let's take him down girl!"

My dragon and flying type pokemon was quick to reveal herself from her pokeball. She roared out and Tucker was quick to jump back to his spot on the battlefield and grin.

"Well let's keep the theme of dragons running, shall we? Let's go Salamence!"

I was shocked to see that Tucker had his own salamence tucked away in the far corners of his pockets. I would have expected a pokemon on his team to be flashier and stand off-ish, but his pokemon seemed powerful and strong, nothing like what I had through of what it could be.

Not to mention the power that rolled off of it caught Empyrean's attention. She grinned at the prospect of a more then wonderful battle. The two pokemon roared out at each other before they rushed forward and clashed before Tucker and I could even utter an attack. Empyrean growled and the salamence matched with its own. The two of them kept pushing against their rock hard heads until they both were shoved away from each other and ended up on the other side of the field.

"Dragon breath Empyrean!" My dragon was quick to fire a thin beam of multicolored fire at her opponent.

"Dodge it and use dragon rage!" Salamence jumped into the air and was quick to screech back and throw a larger beam of a similar attack at Empyrean. She easily moved out of the way of the attack before she growled at her opponent once more.

"Don't hold back Empyrean! Use blizzard!" Empyrean summoned a cold freeze over the field and snow flew wildly as it raced toward the salamence.

"Counter with fire blast!" A five pointed fire figure spread out and hit the blizzard before it instantly turned to water that hung in the air for a moment before falling or turning into steam that rose to the roof.

"Quite the challenge you are Miss Emery-Twain!" Tucker giggled on the other side of the field. "But I don't plan on allowing you to win! Now Salamence! Use outrage!"

The beast roared and its eyes went wild as it raced toward Empyrean and slammed its tail into her face. She cried out in shock, but hardly backed down. She growled as the pokemon started a full on attack on her. A raging aura seemed to fall around the edges of this pokemon. I flinched slightly as I saw Empyrean taking on damage.

"Counter it with draco meteor!" Empyrea heard my attack and she raced up into the air where she roared out and the skies opened and meteors descended onto the stage below where the salamence roamed around. It was slammed by one of them but kept coming at my pokemon. It flew up into the air with its eyes locked onto my pokemon. It suddenly was dodging the meteors left and right as it made its way closer to Empyrean up in the sky and she hurled more meteors at it.

_This isn't working…_ I growled under my breath as I watched more meteors be hurled uselessly at the other dragon pokemon. _Empyrean can't keep up with that insane speed it has now that it's in that sort of mode. I guess we'll have to match it, even if it may call it close for us…_

"Now Empyrean! Use outrage!"

My pokemon's eyes went wide, but she obeyed as she hurled her body into the other poekmon's. Their bodies collided and they were tossed into the ground and were surrounded by the meteors that were left behind.

From there on out, it was just a battle of who was stronger with the coating of outrage helping their attack power and pushing them forward to keep attacking. They kept clashing into one another and I was shocked that the shorter and bulkier pokemon was able to keep up so well with Empyrean.

Suddenly I was shaken from those thoughts when her tail came crashing down on the pokemon and threw it into the ground. Tucker seemed shocked and wasn't jumping around for once as he watched his pokemon lay on the ground from where it was thrown. Empyrean looked tired as she hovered over it to see if it was going to get up for another match against her; however, it seemed that it wasn't. I watched as the pokemon was perfectly still.

"Whoa…" I was honestly expecting it to be a bit harder and closer of a match with the way things were going. Empyrean breathed heavily above me and in a tense stance, even though she and I could both see that the battle was over, she was watching the other pokemon, waiting for the battle to be called and for it to be returned to its pokeball.

"I can't believe it…" Tucker looked onto the battlefield in shock, as did his fans that sat in the seats around the arena. "Salamence lost… he hasn't lost a battle yet…"

"There's always a first time for everything Tucker." I shrugged. I knew the feeling. Empyrean had tied in battle a time or two, the most note worthy was in the Pokѐmon League against Drake. Blade also lost to Luna, and all my other pokemon tied at least once.

"Yes… I guess so." He sighed before I saw that vibrant grin show up on his face again. "Well then I guess you won, Jezebel, congratulations!" He started to clap, and it took a few moments, but soon the rest of the arena was clapping as well. He returned his pokemon and Empyrean relaxed finally and wrapped herself around me.

"And here my dear, is my symbol, the tactics symbol." He handed me a symbol that was gold and round that had a square indented into it with the edges around it to the ends of the symbol indented too, other then the lines used to separate the sections.

"That's leaves only two left for us then…" I looked back up to Tucker and smiled. "Thank you, we're going to stick around for a bit, Mattie should be battling soon and we're heading on a date afterword."

"Oh how wonderful!" I watched him jump into the air and I couldn't but think that I should I kept quiet about that last part…

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After Mattie and I got through both of our battles over at the Battle Dome, we made our way over to a small café and ordered a meal for all our pokemon and ourselves. It didn't bother us that we had to bring our pokemon, and some sets of them were acting as if they were on a date as well.

"Oh, isn't this nice Jezebel?" Mattie smiled over at me as we shared a drink of mago berry lemonade while we waited on our food. I couldn't help but smile at the sweet young man who agreed to date me after all this time.

"It is Mattie, its really nice." I sighed as we sat down, relaxing for once during the day. It was a nice feeling for once. Normally I didn't get to feel like this with how busy we always are and how tied up with Rose and Razi we have to be. But for tonight, it was just going to be about me and him.

"Here you are Champion, Matthew." Our waiter came back soon enough with our food and placed it before us. "Spaghetti for two. Here are separate plates if you want and some side cheese for you." He set it down on the table before pulling out his note pad. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"I wouldn't mind a refill of my drink, and if you could get us some more breadsticks for all our tables, that would be great." The waiter nodded his head and took off while Mattie and I was left to ourselves. I smiled back at Mattie and he took my hand gently in his own.

"I really am glad that we're at this point Jezebel… I know I would have never gotten to this point without you." He let his fingers gently play with the ring on my finger and I smiled at him.

"And I'm in the same position Mattie, I helped you get stronger, and you helped me soften up and become a human again." He chuckled lightly before he kissed my hand.

"I hope… I hope I'm not being out of line when I saw this… but I hope we're together for a really long time…" he blushed heavily and looked down at the table. "I look at the ring on your finger… and I want to get you one, one day."

I gasped in shock. We'd been together for only a short time, but nearly a year did we know each other before hand. I was only thirteen and not ready to think about marriage, but the fact that Mattie wanted to stay with me that far down the line, and even more so later on in life, brought a smile to my face.

"One day, _way_ far off in the future, I'd like that." I laughed lightly and brought his hand up to my face. "But for now, we have so many other things to do and so much to learn about each other and time to enjoy. I don't want to rush anything."

"I don't either!" he said quickly with a face redder then a tomato berry. "I just… wanted to let you know…"

"And I'm more then glad." I snorted. "But just don't tell my dad, he'll kill you, and your on thin ice as it is with him."

"MATTHEW ASHLING!" My eyes widened and turned my head to look at my father coming strait at us with blood shot eyes and a mad look to him. My boyfriend cried out and jumped from his seat and ran while I grabbed a plate and started to eat while the two men got out some energy.

"Well, there goes my date…"

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY DAUGHTER OUT ON A DATE WITHOUT MY PREMISSION?"

I cracked my knuckles and rolled my eyes. "Slatking…"

"Rhu!" My father squealed in fright as his most powerful pokemon emerged from her pokeball and suddenly grabbed him. She shook her head at me and walked off with him in her arms and my father screaming the entire time.

"Yeah… definitely not telling him about our conversation for a _long_ time."

**Witch's Note:**

**About time I finished this chapter! I feel like I spent months on it! Oh well, its finally done and we're getting close to the end! Only three chapters left people! Can you believe we're almost there? I can't!**

**So now we have all the others with five battle symbols and Violet closes in on our two villains! It won't be long now! Are you guys excited as we get closer? I know I am! But I'm also sad… I kinda don't want this story to end; it was one of my favorites…**

**Oh well, nearly time to move on! I'll see you all next week with another chapter and I hope you all send me reviews and let me know what you think! Love you all!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	35. A Battle Style We're Used To

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 35: A Battle Style We're Used To_

**Rosalie's Point of View:**

I was nearly there, so fucking close! One more sucking of this innocent girl's energy and I would be fully healed. When that was done, I would then take my revenge out on this park and take as many lives as I possibly could, and I planned to start with Jezebel and her friends. I've had Razi keep tabs on her while we were here in the park. She has five of her seven battle symbols and plans to go for her sixth today. She plans to face off against the Battle Tower, and from what I've heard about her other matches, she's been doing _more_ then well enough.

Even with all the power she now has, she is the weakest and youngest out of the changeling. She would be easiest to fool and it would hit a nerve if I managed to do anything to her, the other changeling were more then likely to mess up. And then I would make it to the true prize I wanted to kill… Violet Vilmos.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

After dealing with my father last night at Mattie and my first date, we ended upcoming back to the hotel and resting with the others (after talking over all the events and then harassing my father to leave Mattie and I be on those things, even if he never lists.) It was now the next day and we were preparing for our next match at the Battle Frontier, which would be at the Battle Tower.

"Oh I'm so excited for this one!" Aria grinned as she led us along our way toward the Battle Tower, where we would be facing the sixth challenge to this place. "It's just like a regular battle there, one on one, just like we're used to!"

"Oh that makes it nice and simple." I grinned at the prospect of how many people I would be plowing through today because of this battle system. Acey was my partner for today and more then excited to battle. She had waited long enough as the others all got a chance. Blaze is now the only one who hadn't competed yet. He wanted to go last on the final day to be special, and I respected that wish, nor do I blame him. It does feel exciting to be the one to win the last battle that shows that you've won and they're the reason behind it. But it also kills it if you lose…

But Blaze won't lose, he's too stubborn.

So along we continued. We had to travel to the other side of the island this time; we would for both of our final matches, the Battle Tower, and the Battle Pyramid. I was pretty happy with the fact that there were only a couple left. I loved the challenges, don't get me wrong, but I wanted them to be beaten and over so Violet would finally believe in me enough to take me with her on her quest to stop Rose. I wanted to join the IPHP League and help Violet take down those that were causing harm to others in the world, no different then Rose and Razi. I wanted to avenge my mother; I wanted to protect others from the same harm that others perform onto the world. So many things I could do once I joined… and I had a feeling it wouldn't be too long from now.

Not too much later, we found ourselves at the base of a tall, sixty floor tower. The others and I gazed up at it, looking at how tall it was before I grinned and moved on toward the door. It opened as I stepped on the platform before it and I saw hundreds of trainers sitting around, all of them seemed to be bursting with energy.

I pushed past the masses of them and quickly made my way up to the counter where a woman seemed to be signing people in. She smiled when she us. She seemed to be styled in the same way Tucker's employees were, pink outfits with blue hair in different styles.

"Hello Champion Jezebel, Matthew, Casey, Aria. Welcome to the Battle Tower." The woman sighed as she pulled out some buzzers and a piece of paper that she began writing on. "I'm extremely sorry to tell you that the tower is actually over capacity and you'll need to wait before you get a chance to battle. Trainers are flying through here though, so the wait shouldn't be longer then twenty to half an hour."

"No problem, we'll wait." I took the buzzer from her and handed them out to my friends. Once she copied down which one of us had which number buzzer, we hurried over to find a spot to stand at since all the seats were taken. More people seemed to be coming in after us and I was shocked at the turn out of people.

"I wonder why this place seems to be so much busier then the other places on this island?" Aria questioned as she whipped her head around to see all the trainers that seemed almost stacked on top of each other.

"I've heard that this place is really busy most of the time because of how simple the rules are, they also seem to be in love with the head person here, Anabel Naveen. She's really beautiful and a kind young woman who many trainers have taken a liking too." Casey sighed as he looked around; trying to avoid the slightly jealous look Aria was giving him. "Its just stuff I heard, and look around, most of the trainers here are male."

I did in fact look around and saw that the place was littered with male trainers; only about ten percent of the people here seemed to be female. I was quite shocked. _I guess this Anabel character is quite the beauty to attract so many people, especially males…_

"Well, might as well get comfy." I yawned and stretched before I went and stood back next to Mattie and leaned against him. He gently wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned back my head on his shoulder. Aria sighed, but followed my lead and stood in a similar position against Casey. We rested there as the place was busy with activity rushing around us.

**Violet's Point of View:**

The areas around the Battle Frontier were all a bust. We spent all night and day trying to look for any sign of Rose and look for all possible places she could hide. When asking about her to any of the locals, none of them responded with seeing her, which left us with one final location to check, the Battle Frontier.

The goal was to keep quiet for the time being, but keep an eye out on the Battle Frontier for any sign of Rose and Razi, or any other their pokemon. Scott already knew, and he was quite pissed that there was a high possibility she was here. He had notified all of his Frontier Brains and had them looking out as well through their own mist of trainers that came by on a daily bases. The rest of us from the IPHP League were to go undercover and look like other random trainers to get around easily enough to look around the other areas of the island.

I took off on my own with Levy at my side a few minutes after I left. I wasn't about to leave the girl by herself in case Rose decided to come after her and found out what she had for pokemon. Levy and I were in charge of checking out the cave below the entire Battle Frontier, the Artisan Cave. It would take us all day to look through the entire place. There were multiple levels for the two of us to check, but at least we didn't have to fight the crowds of people that the others would have to up on the top level at the actual Battle Frontier. That was where all the others were, to cover and check all areas from all sorts of different locations. Checking building to building, working with the security, talking with people on the island… Alex was the head of that operation.

"Violet?" Levy questioned as we made our way further into the caves with our pokemon and were checking ever corner we could. "How long do you think it will take to check this place?"

"Quite a while Levy, why?" I chuckled at her, trying to lighten the mood. "You got a hot date or something?"

"No!" The girl quietly snapped. We agreed to keep our voices as quiet as possible, and so far, it was going fairly well. "I just wanted to know was all…"

I snorted. "Whatever you say Levy…"

It was nice having the girl around, she lifted my gloomy spirit as I trudged forward, dealing with Rose. She really was one of the only lights I had right now, besides my other friends and Alex.

Alex and I… it's been so long since we got together and we've known each other for so long. We've know each other since we were toddlers and we've been together in a relationship for four to five years. That's an incredible amount of time, I'm just glad I still have him. I know I have my ups and downs, and so does he, but I know its gotten worse since I've been going crazy over finding Rose and Razi. Mew knows I need to make things up to him. And one day, I will.

"Come one Levy, let's go and check out this next area."

"Coming!" The girl sprinted after me with her pokemon in close distance to her. We were getting down to the wire now. Rose was here, and I would make _damn_ sure I'd find her.

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It was a good long wait, another twenty minutes longer then the woman had told us in the beginning, but I kind of figured things would be like that. Eventually we ended up getting buzzed in. I grinned when I felt it suddenly go off in my hands and vibrate like crazy. Jumping from my seat, the others were quick to follow me as we made it back up to the desk we were at a short while ago. The woman smiled up at us once she saw us approach. She took the buzzers from our hands and removed the piece of wood that separated us from the main room that was even more crowded with people this time around.

"Please follow one of the staff members behind me in order to go to your respected rooms for the Battle Tower." My friends and I each went to another worker and we were all led away to different elevators to different floors and rooms altogether. I didn't see where they all went, but I knew that I'd be having fun up here.

I planned to just go all out, not waist any time, see if anyone can avoid our toughest attacks… and see if there will be a challenge at all.

I felt the giddiness running through my body. I could feel Acey's excitement as well. She couldn't help herself and once we got to our room, she released herself and started to fly around up in the air over the large battlefield we seemed to have. I hurried over to the trainer box I felt like standing in and the attendant made her way over to me.

"Thank you for joining us today at the Battle Tower Miss Emery-Twain." She bowed her head slightly to me before standing at the wall behind me. "Are you ready for your first opponent?"

"More then."

Acey cried out happily and landed next to me, rubbing her head into my side as we waited for our opponent. The woman hit a button that was on the pad she carried before the door on the opposite side of the room opened. I was surprised to see it was a little boy of no older then eight. His eyes lit up when he saw me and he ran over to me and hugged my leg and side out of happiness.

"Champion Jezebel! I always wanted to meet you!" His eyes were glowing practically in happiness and I wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared of the poor kid. "Are we going to battle each other? That's so cool!"

"You think so?" I questioned him.

"Yeah! This is so cool! Are you going to beat me?"

"Well… the battle is to determine who is stronger or has a better strategy to move on. So I have to beat you to move on, or you have to beat me to move on."

"I don't think I can do that, but I'll try my best!" He pulled back at bit and I got down on my knees to look at him in the eyes. "You'll try your best too right? Please don't lose for me because I'm a kid."

"Well, if you want me to go all out kid, I will." I grinned at him and ruffed up his hair. "You ready to start?"

"Yeah!" He rushed over to his box and pulled out his pokeball that he entered here. Acey jumped out onto the field and watched him, waiting for to let his pokemon out. "Let's go Dragonair!"

I was actually quite shocked to see the dragon type appeared. It cried out majestically as it slithered around the field and glanced at Acey. It looked excited and actually moved forward and held out the end of its tail as to shake hands with Acey for a good match.

_This was new…_

Acey seemed shocked by the gesture, as was I. Normally a battle consisted of us just getting right down to it, so it was unusual for this to happen. Acey soon took the tail in her hand and shook it gently, grinning at the dragon type before she pulled back and was ready to go. The dragon did the same and had its tail ready like a whip to crack at my pokemon.

The boy smiled at me before it turned to a smirk and knew he was ready to go. "Alright Dragonair! Start out with twister!"

"Ruu!" A twister was then thrown out and I was actually shocked to feel the power of theses winds, it was much stronger then I was expecting out of a kid like this and his pokemon, but I wasn't about to say that I wasn't pleased in the least.

"Acey, you use twister too!"

"Ra!" She threw one to crash into the other and the two of the twittered soon swirled into one and made a large one that coated the entire field. The two poekmon watched each other as the wind howled.

"Now Acey, use fire blast on the twister! The dragonbreath!" My pokemon looked back at me in shock, making sure I wasn't saying what she'd heard. I nodded to her and her eyes went wide before I grinned. "I got a plan!"  
My pokemon nodded then before she raced into action. Fire shot out of her mouth first as she hit the twister and it sucked it in like nothing at all. Once the twister actually turned into a fiery tornado, she then attacked with dragonbreath. The tornado took on many glowing colors of red and purple, and even some spots of black showed up as the tornado cracked and cried out, destroying the area easily. An attack like this would take either of us out. _Easily._ It seems that the boy picked up on it too. He looked to the tornado and watched as our pokemon were slowly being pulled toward it.

"Use thunderbolt Dragonair!" The boy though he would lead the tornado one with a more painful attack, but I was glad he didn't, and he was my spot to take on the battle.

"Acey! Tackle! Throw it in!" Acey grinned and followed my train of though and launched herself into the dragonair. It cried out as she attacked and it let loose its attack on her, but Acey didn't feel a thing. It really helped at times that she was part ground type. The dragoniar was thrown into the vortex and I watched it instantly crash in on itself. An explosion went off of a warm, bright red blast and I ducked and Acey zoomed over to me while an attendant grabbed the boy as I heard the explosion go off.

The entire room suddenly felt very warm, and when I dared look next from under Acey's wing, I saw that the entire field was red with fire. Alarms were going off and attendants were quick to rush up with extinguishers to put out the fire as well as with water pokemon. The boy seemed fine on the other side of the field and he rushed out to his pokemon. I hurried out as well and quickly I heard crying in the field. It pushed my legs faster and when I got to where the pokemon lay, I was shocked.

The entire body of the dragonair was cooked, it was stained black from the fire and it looked like some of its skin was cracking and peeling. I watched the pokemon try to lift its head and wrap its body around the child. I was quick to turn into my changeling form of Silky and hurry to the body of the pokemon and started to heal it, the battle was done, and the poor boy was so worried about his pokemon.

"DRAGONAIR!" The boy burst into tears as I healed his pokemon and the chaos went on around us. The pokemon was hurt badly, but stayed by its trainer's side and held him close, even with its body burned and broken.

"You are one tough pokemon, I know I'd be having a lot of trouble doing what you are now." The pokemon smiled at me, but then turned its focus on the kid. But I didn't blame him; the pokemon could have been lost.

_I really need to start controlling my power better, and not going all out unless said person can handle me…_

**Third Person Point of View:**

The top of tower was silent as a young woman watched a TV that sat upon the wall before her. The champion, Jezebel Emery-Twain, was rising through the ranks and fast. The woman smiled as she looked out her window to the busy streets below that led to her tower and had many people who were crowding and trying to get inside. It was one of the busiest days she and her tower had ever had.

"Miss?" The woman turned to one of her assistants that approached. "Shall we get the top floor prepared?"

"Yes, it won't be long before she arrives at the top, nor her friends either. I shall meet you up there." The woman took off before her assistant could say another word.

**Gwyn's Point of View:**

The majority of us were forced to stay up on the top of the ground, looking through the crowds, the buildings, and all places in this busy area that Rose or Razi could be at. We knew they were here, I could feel them, not as easily as Violet, but I knew she wasn't too far away. The boys and I, we were all supposed to look throughout the Battle Frontier for them. We've seen a few red haired people so far on the island, but none of them were Rose and Razi.

I was in costume right now, out of my normal clothes and covered with dark clothes, looking like a goth, I had a black wig an everything. All of us were dressed up entirely different then who we were to get around easily and not stopped by fans. I'm glad we did that, because it was hard enough to get to one side of the island to the other just as a normal person. The Battle Frontier was a busy place; it has been since it opened.

I'd been out for a good few hours now. I'd only been able to make it around a small corner, and I was going to be stationed here for the entire day. I had to keep looking over this area to make sure that no one (and by that I meant Rose and Razi) shows up and causes trouble. It wouldn't be long now until I found them.

I blinked as I felt something off to the side of my section. I turned my head and I saw a flash of bright red hair with a black hat over it and I pushed through the crowd to find it. As I pushed through the crowd, I suddenly made it to an opening where I could breathe, but I saw that there was no sign of what I saw of the vibrant red color and the black over it. I huffed, the feeling I had didn't go away.

_They were here, and I'm more then willing to bet it was Razi I just saw…_

"I have to warn the others." I was quick to pull out my phone and I decided to call Alex first since he was up top with me. He picked up after the first ring and responded. "Hey, its me, I saw Razi, he and Rose are not far from my location…"

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Battling in the tower was more then fun for me. My room that I'd been placed in was burned to a crisp, but I didn't mind it as such, it would be repaired in time. It was interesting to face the different opponents here. I was finally starting to learn to hold back on my opponents and Acey seemed to as well. She wasn't as happy with it though because she wanted to be able to go full out, but we couldn't do that against most normal trainers. Most of them really weren't all that strong, but we got a few of them here and there that would be someone we could go all out against. Acey enjoyed those battles more, and I knew she could go against the leader with a full on battle. She would enjoy that.

I sat in the box of my burnt room as Acey and I were taking a quick break before our next battle. Our last opponent had just left, and older man who we were able to use more power against since he'd been so experience. The attendant was soon to come over to us and smiled down at my pokemon and me.

"Are you ready for your next battle?"

"Of course." I stood up from the box I've been using all day and scratched under Acey's chin. She kicked her foot happily at the action.

"Please return your pokemon then, I'll be leading you up to the top floor." My eye brow raised as I looked at her before looking at Acey. Suddenly, a grin appeared on my face.

"Were gonna battle the leader Acey!" She grinned at me and cried out happily before I returned her to her pokeball. Once Acey was taken care of we were moved out of the crispy room we'd made and I saw people move into it quickly enough to repair the damage.

I was led onto one of the elevators once more and then we traveled to one of the top levels of the tower. I was soon led to an area up on the top floor of the tower where many people surrounded a battlefield while a young woman stood on the other side of it. She was fair in skin tone, it was ivory. Amethyst hair color stood out against it that was short and framed well around her face. Long purple pants covered her legs while a white jacket was on her that had grey/lavender sleeves. Her crystal like eyes shone with the color purple as she smiled at me as I approached.

"Welcome Jezebel Emery-Twain, I was wondering when I'd see you here." The woman smiled at me sweetly and I heard many males in the crowd crying out to the woman. She simply waved at them before retuning her attention to me. "I'm the leader of the Battle Tower, my name is Anabel Naveen."

The males went crazy once more upon hearing her name. I could see why they were all so jumpy to see her. Her eyes were like crystals and her sweet personality must have had them _more_ then swooned. She didn't bat an eye at them though, her attention was entirely on me.

"Well, you know who I am, but just to be courteous, I'm Jezebel Emery-Twain." I walked forward to her side of the field and held out my hand for her to shake. "Let's have a good match."

"Yes, let us have a good match, and the true victor in the end reign victorious." I returned then to my battle box and turned to face them woman. "Are you ready to face me?"

"More then." I grinned and felt the blood pumping again. I could feel power from her, which meant Acey and I could go all out if we wanted.

And that's just what we planed to do.

"Then I won't keep you from our match any longer. Let us begin! Alakazam! Assist me my friend!" It wasn't a moment later then the words left her mouth that I saw the intelligent pokemon float before myself. It slowly opened its eyes before it encased its body in a pink glow and unfolded its legs and stood, its two spoons raised at me, ready to fight.

"Alright! Let's go Acey! Time to get our sixth symbol!" My ground dragon soon appeared and grinned when she saw her opponent, already stretching her teeth beyond the edge of her lips, ready to launch her teeth into its skin. I smirked at her eagerness.

Anabel raised her eye brow. "Your pokemon seems quite full of energy, and it reminds me of predator and prey when looking at the field."

"She's just happy she can go all out now and not worry about as many consequences." I threw my arm forward. "Crunch!"

Acey spend forward and her teeth latched into the side of the pokemon, knocking it over entirely as Anabel watched in shock at the speed Acey had from all the power she had stored away from not being able to battle to her full ability. Anabel was quick to recover as her pokemon winced in pain and Acey bit harder.

"Ice punch!" A fist of ice flew forward and Acey was quick to released her opponent and jump into the air to avoid the attack. The alakazam held its side in pain, already taken a considerable amount of damage from first attack.

"My friend! Are you alright?" Anabel questioned her pokemon worriedly.

"You find out soon enough!" I threw out my other arm and retracted the first. "Now Acey, use dragonbreath!"

My dragon lashed forward with the attack, more then eager to let loose the sacks of power inside her body. The attack came off more powerful then normal. The alakazam's eyes widened and I saw that Anabel was quick to respond.

"Teleport!"

"Check in the air!"

As soon as the pokemon vanished, I saw as it appeared above Acey. It cringed as she saw it and she jumped up and threw her body into its, throwing it off to the side.

After using that trick so many times ourselves, we can't be outsmarted by it that easily.

The two pokemon crashed into the ground below and Anabel and I watched them quickly get into a tussle. The alakazam was throwing punches while Acey was swinging around her tail. Neither of them were making much headway until Avey threw herself forward and her wings collided with its body. The pokemon was thrown back into another wall and Anabel gasped.

"Hang in there my friend! Use recover!"

"Like I'm gonna give you time to use that!" I chuckled. "Crunch!" Acey jumped forward and the pokemon barely had time to dive away before her teeth smashed into the wall. She spat out the many pieces that crowded the inside of her jaw, and then quickly went out after the pokemon, chomping at it. The alakazam was never given a chance to recover as Acey kept right up on his trail. There was no way to escape and get a moment of rest with her speed and determination.

"Alakazam!"

"Now Acey! Sandstorm!" My flygon cried out and whipped up a sandstorm with its wings that circled around the alakazam. It flew around in the air many times before tried to teleport out of it, but it was just sucked in all over again. It was also prevented from using teleport from the violent sand whipping at its skin.

"No! My friend, hang in there!"

"And let's finish this up Acey!" My dragon grinned. "Fire blast!"

"No!" Anabel's cry was helpless to the situation. Acey blasted a large blast of fire at the sandstorm and it was instantly taken in by the strong wings. I could hear cries from inside the fiery sandstorm that was before us and told Acey to cut it before we really hurt someone.

The sandstorm was stopped and soon it was just the small burning I could hear on the walls and ground. The crowd was silent as they watched the dust clear and the defeated body of the alakazam on the ground. It was singed and scared, but still seemed to be lightly breathing before I heavily coughed and heaved up some black smoke.

Anabel smiled before she walked out onto the field and held her pokemon. "You have done well my friend, she was just too powerful. Rest now." She returned her pokemon while Acey was happily flying around me before she stopped and forced her head under my arm. I laughed and pat her. Anabel came to my side of the field as we were cheering each other on about our win.

"You were incredible out there, so much dominating power, I'm glad we have someone out there such as yourself to teach us new things and to get stronger." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her symbol, handing it over to me, the gold color glittered as I saw the rounded shape of a long triangle in the middle of it. "I know you'll beat the Battle Frontier, I can't wait for it. Maybe you'll even join our ranks."

"Become a Frontier Brain?" I blinked at her in shock.

She smiled. "Yes, those that beat the entire Battle Frontier are offered to join us as other Frontier Brains. It's our way of expanding the park and making it more fun for others. But it limits us as well, because the only ones to have beaten us all were the IPHP League when we first opened, and they all turned down the offer."

"With Rose on the loose, that doesn't surprise me…" I sighed.

"Actually, that had nothing to do with it at all. None of them really wanted to join." Anabel shrugged. "Rose was part of the reason, I know that, but I know the others have dreams of watching out over their home regions, and being a Frontier Brain here in Hoenn would take away from that. I also believe Violet mentioned something of owning a jewelry store at one point…"

"Really?" I wasn't expecting that…

"Yes, but I'm sure you can ask her about that later on. Your boyfriend just finished his last match and is on his way up. I need to prepare for him."

"I'll move out of your way then, thanks for the battle Anabel."

**Violet's Point of View:**

_It'd been nearly an entire day; actually, I think it had been…_ I pulled out my pokegear to check the time and noticed it was seven am of the next day. I groaned at how long I'd been down here with Levy. The girl had taken a long nap while I continued to search out the cave with her on my back. There was no sign of Rose on the lower levels, and I'd checked every corner. All that was left to check was the back half of the top level of the cave, toward the Battle Pyramid I believe, where Jezebel would be having her last challenge here on the Battle Frontier today.

Levy was now awake while I was exhausted, but still going. Until this cave was checked all over, I wouldn't rest. To make me only worry more, Alex had contacted me yesterday and told me that Gwyn had seen a shadow of Razi on the island, up above. They couldn't be far now.

_I had to let Jezebel know though… she and the others could be attacked at any moment…_

I sighed as I pulled out my pokegear and dialed the young girl's number. It rang only a couple of times before I heard the young girl pick up with a eager voice.

"_Hello?_"

"Good to hear you're up girl. Ready for your last challenge here?"

"_More then, and once I beat it, I hope I've proved myself enough to you to join the ranks of the IPHP League._" I heard the girl sigh on the other end. "_But I can wait a bit longer, any news on Rose?_"

"Yeah, her brother was seen yesterday by Gwyn."

I heard the woman hiss. "_Should I abandon my challenge to help out?_"

"No, I'd rather you be on the inside incase she may be inside that maze. You'll be able to check out the building. We're closing in on a location for her now that we've seen one of them. It won't be long now. But keep going with your challenge. We're going to start evacuating people off the island to avoid casualties."

"_Good, I don't want anyone to get hurt._" Talking could be heard in the background and I heard Jez getting pumped again. "_Well, its time for us to go Vi, we'll see you soon. We'll keep our eyes out for Rose and Razi._"

"Good luck then." I cut the line then and hurried along with Levy to check out the next section of the cave.

"Hey, it's the smergle!" Levy gasped as she saw the friends she played with on her first day here at the Battle Frontier. She seemed to be looking at them and waved while they drew their extravagant pictures on the walls with their tails and homemade paint as well. Levy walked over to some of them and talked, but when she looked at them, she questioned something.

"Why don't your eyes had a red rim to them anymore?"

_Red… rim…?_ My eyes went wide and I rushed to Levy.

"Levy! What do you mean by that?"

"The red rims in their eyes? They had them on the first day I was here. Is that bad?"

"These pokemon have been hypnotized! Rose is here!" I booked it from where we were and turned into a small cavern guarded by the smergle. Once I got inside, I gasped at the body lying dead I saw there.

"Oh my Mew…" _Death by her hands was still as graphic as ever…_

**Witch's Note:**

**Oh boy here we go! Next chapter will have Rose and the others all in battle! Its gonna be so good! Who can't wait?! I know I can't! I'm so excited I already got the next chapter started! I can't wait for it! And I plan to hurt one of the main characters! Who's ready for that? **

**Anyway, now that I can stop freaking out for a few minutes, wait, no I can't, BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE TWO CHAPTERS LEFT! OH MY GOD! Can you guys believe it? Two chapters away from the end of the story! It feels unreal!**

**Anyway, before I go even crazier, I better get to that awesome next chapter with Rose and Razi finally appearing! See you all next week and please send in Reviews and Questions! We only have TWO chapters left!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	36. The Pyramid's Maze

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 36: The Pyramid's Maze_

**Rose's Point of View (A couple hours before Violet calls Jezebel):**

_At last… I could breathe again…_ I felt the last of the girl's energy slip out of her body and she collapsed to the ground, dead. Her body was pale; her entire life force was sucked out of her body one piece at a time until the withered body of the young girl was nothing more then a pile of skin stretched over bones.

With my energy back, I rose to my feet and made my way over to the entrance of our little cavern. I knew Violet was in these caves, searching them with the young girl named Levy. With the smergle here under my hypnosis, it made it easier to keep tabs on her while I recovered.

And now was the time to strike.

Razi was quick to appear through the wall with my pokemon at his side along with his own. He grinned as he saw me standing and gave me a bone crushing hug when he got close enough.

"Sis, it's so good to see you up and evil again!" He grinned and pulled back from me. "I bet you're ready to roll, right?"

_Beyond._ I had to use the psychic power of my pokemon in order to communicate now with my voice dead, which is why I particularly wanted to go after Jezebel first. A part of me is gone now because of her. _Where can I find Jezebel?_

"In the Battle Pyramid, let's get out of here before the IPHP League shows up and we'll go sneak into the pyramid and get her." Razi grinned. "Ready to kill some people Sis?"

I couldn't help but grin. _Hell yeah._

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Shortly after Violet had called me, we arrived over at our last challenge here at the Battle Frontier, the Battle Pyramid. Blaze and I were more then excited to face off in this place. It was a literal pyramid that had mazes on each level that you had to make your way through until you made it to the top. At the top stood Brandon Greke, the king of the pyramid.

Although once we were done with him, his pyramid will be beaten, just like we have the rest of this park.

It didn't take us long to make it up to the building that was made of large, yellowish stone. Once up there, we stepped inside the building. Upon the inside was a dimly lit area with a few trainers standing around. A larger man in an explorer outfit stood before some pillars that had round pans with fire in the center of them on top of them. A neon blue teleportation tile sat behind him that probably led up to the other levels. The walls had a blue tint to them from the tile and the darkness of the room with the flames. There was a bridge that separated the blue tile away from the main area, which the guy stood before. A large gap of so many feet was under the bridge from what I can see. It could be a few feet, or _many_ feet. I wasn't about to find out.

We walked up to the larger man and he just about laughed when he saw us. An ear splitting grin covered his face as he quickly opened up the space to the bridge behind him.

"Welcome champion and companions! We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival here!" He allowed us through and closed the line behind him as another man took over.

"Come inside, I will explain the Battle Pyramid to you." The man led us to the section just before the blue teleportation tile before he stopped next to it. "Your journey begins as soon as you step on the platform. There are seven levels to the pyramid, each with their own teleportation pad. To proceed to the next level of the pyramid, you must find and step on the tile. Each time someone steps on the pad however, the pad will move. There is no rule to say you can't work together with friends, _if_ you manage to find them." He paused for a moment and took a swig of water from his canteen. "The levels get smaller as you head higher up, so it's harder in the beginning when if comes to finding your way, but the trainers inside tend to be stronger the higher up you go. Also…" his face fell as he glared at the ground for a moment. I blinked at him before he took a step closer and whispered to us. "Champion Violet has left a request for you."

"I assume it has something to do with my challenge?"

"Yes." He growled to the air, but it wasn't directed at me. "Rose and her brother are apparently on the move, and we're evacuating the island. There are still trainers up in the pyramid, please defeat them and force them out to be evacuated."

"Understood. Approximately how many people are inside?"

"Twenty eight."

"Got it, can we be sent in as pairs?"

"I will bend the rules to you because of this operation. Please get those trainers out of there and if you see Rose, take her down. Brandon doesn't want her here in the pyramid, or her brother, and he's quite furious that she could be here. Brandon will meet you at the top. He's hoping that a battle will draw her out if she's nearby."

"Oh it will." I nodded to him and took Mattie's hand. "Shall we?"

"Yes, let's go." He nodded to me and I stepped onto the pad, as soon as my foot hit it, Mattie and I were gone from the area that we were at only moments ago. Casey and Aria were gone and so was the man who had explained the operation to us.

"Alright Mattie, let's go find those trainers and get them out of here."

"Coming Jezebel." We kept our hands interlocked as we began to move about the area. Stone walls were made to separate off certain areas. It was dark in here as well. Not much light was being used to show us the way. It gave a blue/black look to the stone when I'm sure it was actually a tan color.

"Ha ha! Trainers!" I blinked as I saw a set of two trainers standing before Mattie and me once we got to the end of a section. "We can finally battle!"

Both of them appeared to be male and both were more then overly confident in their abilities. Either they didn't notice who Mattie and I were, or they were just dumb.

I snorted a laugh. "Be prepared to lose then." Blaze appeared from my pokeball and Guardian appeared from Mattie's. The other two trainers threw out their pokeballs, which were a crawdaunt and a ludicolo.

"Attack!" The two trainers across from us shouted and the two pokemon rushed at us. I merely rolled my eyes and turned to Mattie.

"Do you wanna take this?"

"Sure." He glared at them and threw out his hand. "Shock wave!" Guardian glowed with a bright yellow light and suddenly lit up the area before she tossed electricity right at the two water types. They bother cried out and the voltage turned their bodies black and forced them to drop. Both trainers were shocked at the power and that they were down and out with one hit.

"Bummer, but at least that two out of all the trainers, only twenty six to go." I stretched my arms and took hold of Blaze's hand next to me, reaching out for Mattie's. "Shall we go on?"

"Yep." He grabbed Guardian's hand before taking mine as well. We watched the two trainers angrily grab their pokemon and rush to the exit where guards were waiting for them. Mattie and I moved on then with our pokemon, looking for the next set of trainers that we could get out of here.

**Alexander's Point of View:**

Violet finally found her; only a few moments ago did she give me the news that she found a body left behind by Rose that looked like it had been sucked of all of its life. It only made the fight to get people off of this island faster. Scott left on the boats with most of the attendants of the Battle Frontier as well as all the people who came here for entertainment and fun. The Frontier Brains were the only ones remaining behind because of their strength and to help us round up anyone who hadn't gotten out yet.

What the really hard part was to get Jezebel's family off the island. The only one I permitted to stay was her father, who was a registered gym leader and a powerful man. The rest were forced to leave while Jezebel's ninth pokemon, Courage, refused to leave without his trainer. Norman took him in while we watched the boats set out with hundreds to nearly thousands of people being carted off while this place was turned into a battlefield.

"How bad do you think this is going to be Alex?" Norman dared to ask me as we stayed at the docks, watching the boats heading out and more coming in to take the many people still here.

"This place is about to be turned into a battle zone by many changeling Norman," I sighed. "This place is going to be torn to pieces. It's going to be millions of dollars in repairs."

"How can you tell?"

"I've faced Rose before, and her brother. They're a violent pair." I ran my hand through my hair. "One of the first major fights we had with her, I was attacked and nearly died at her hand. Violet was forced to make the ultimate choice of saving me or capturing Rose. I think you can figure what she chose."

"You…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry to hear that…"

I glanced at the ground. "It just… it irks me really. Sometimes I wish she would have chosen Rose all that time ago, even if I had died, then she wouldn't have to be chasing her around the world and trying to stop her destruction…"

"But then she wouldn't have you. I've watched that woman, and you're the glue that holds her together in all of this mess." Norman snorted a laugh. "Violet wouldn't be herself without you."

"I guess your right. I still just can't help feeling that way, you know?"

"I still blame myself for not noticing all the shit that happened to my wife, my family, and my daughter. I know _exactly_ how you feel, even if it's not the same circumstance."

"I think it is, in a way." I shook my head and looked behind me to the empty island. Hardly anyone was here, not, all buildings had been evacuated other the Battle Pyramid, which Jezebel was taking care of as we speak to the stubborn trainers that just wouldn't go. They were slowly emerging from that area, one by one. Her group was taking care of it well.

"How many more people are we waiting on?" I turned my head back to Norman.

"Not many, just the workers and the remaining trainers of the Battle Pyramid. Your daughter is making work quick for them and getting them out fast. Looks like she and her friends are dominating them from how fast their flooding out now."

The numbers of the trainers seemed to increase soon and attendants were slowly showing up as well. Soon, this place would be a clean slate for the battleground of this soon to be war.

I was startled away from looking at them when I saw my girlfriend claw her way up the side of the wall of stone next to the boat. She set down Levy next to me and Norman before turning to look at me.

"How many more are left?"

"Not many Vi, almost entirely cleared out, Jezebel is cleaning the last place, the Battle Pyramid."

"Good, we'll be heading out soon to-" my girlfriend cut herself off and looked in the direction of the Battle Pyramid and she gasped before she grabbed my hand. "Get the rest of them on the boat Norman! Have Levy stay with you! Tell any of the others to meet us at the Battle Pyramid!" She didn't give the man a chance to reply as she dragged me off, racing with the speed of her charizard's wings.

"Violet! What is it?" I didn't hear her answer me, but she didn't need to. I felt it, that sickening, dead like feeling that came over my body like all the many times we've encountered Rose and her brother.

"Shit!" I hissed out. Rose was at the Battle Pyramid, she was after Jezebel…

**Third Person Point of View:**

At the very top of the Battle Pyramid stood a man as he watched the sun for a few blinding moments before looking at the vast land of the Battle Frontier. It had been his home for a while now, and suddenly it was to be turned into a battlefield to face one of them most murderous people in this present century.

An attendant soon came up at the exit of the top of the pyramid. He gasped for air, with his larger size and all, and hurried up to his superior. "Sir, Champion Jezebel, Matthew, Casey and Aria have removed the trainers from inside the pyramid."

"Good, now get out of here then, get to the boats."

"But sir, what about you and the other Frontier Brains?"

"We'll be staying to assist the league in any way possible. Rose Agustino is a threat to all humanity and _must_ be stopped."

"…Will you be alright sir?"

"Casualty will not matter in this battle, just taking that woman and her brother down." The man never looked at his attendant, just kept looking out word. "Jezebel and I will set the stage for the woman, and then we shall take her down with the help of all the changeling and pokemon here. Now you get out of here, I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Yes… sir…" The attendant turned on his heels and retreated back the way he came, but stopped at the doorway. "Please take her down, but don't die sir."

"I won't make a promise I can't keep." The man sighed, and the two went their different ways. Brandon continued to stay atop of his pyramid and waited for the girl and her friends to show up to lure Rose out of hiding.

Things were silent again, all up to where the man turned and saw who he was waiting for.

**Rosalie's Point of View:**

Being silent all the time and not being able to talk actually did have its perks. Any pain I felt, any emotion I had, I couldn't let out a sound as I dealt with it. No one could hear me scream, no one would hear me cry again. I no longer had to be worried about being found. I was now a master of stealth, all thanks to the little girl that ruled this region.

But even though I'm grateful of the gift she gave me, that didn't mean I wasn't still pissed. I missed my voice, my laughter. I missed being able to talk to my brother… Talking through my mind wasn't the same. Even after only a little while, I was forgetting what my voice sounded like.

I shook my head. _Focus what little is left of your mind Rose, Jezebel is waiting for you._

My brother and I were inside the Battle Pyramid as of the moment. He and I were using our ghostly powers of our pokemon to search each floor and find her. She was close, I could feel it, but I wasn't sure just how close or where. Power just isn't direct like that, and it sucks.

"Just a few more corners and we'll have finished this room Rose," my brother was quick to reply to me. We were on one of the higher up levels, almost at the top as we continued in our search for Jezebel and her friends.

_She's not on this floor Razi, she's not one to hide in a corner, nor her friends._ I shook my head. _Let's head up to the next floor._

My brother nodded and we quickly made our way up to the floor right before the top of the pyramid. I nearly gasped out in shock, and I was glad for no voice when I saw Jezebel walk right before me toward a door that led to sun that was filtering in. I grinned as I saw her and her three little friends. Adrenaline started to pump wildly through my veins and my powers taking over…

_I found you… Jezebel Emery-Twain…_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

We soon made it to the top, the end of the pyramid. When we stepped out into the warm sun, I noticed a man was standing there at the tip of the pyramid. He was dressed entirely in green, while his top seemed to be buttoned up with large white buttons; he had a thick black belt which attacked a bag to his side and held down his shirt, giving it a pressed look. His longer shorts were the same color while white socks covered his exposed ankles. Hiking boots were on his feet with short hair and thick eye brows to match all in color of a lighter brown were on him. His dark black eyes looked at me and my friends before he approached.

"Welcome champion and friends, though I apologize for the conditions that you had to meet me under. I wish it was not this way so we could have had a fair battle." He lightly bowed his head to me. "I'm Brandon Greke, king of this pyramid."

"Hopefully we will at a later point, but for now, we need to deal with Rose first."

"Of course. Follow me and I will lead you back into the pyramid to where the battlefield is." I nodded to him and the man led us to a secret passage he seemed to have. He pulled a flashlight out of his bag and motioned for us to follow.

I noticed that the passage seemed to move along the edges of the pyramid. It moved down at an angle that seemed to go on for a while before it led us down to another hidden door. Brandon opened it and led us to what appeared to be a dark battlefield. It was shrouded in darkness with only a couple eerie flames of blue color. My friends and I moved to one side of the field and Brandon made his way to the other box.

"Do you think it will take long to lure her out?" Mattie questioned me from behind my shoulder. I let out Blaze and sighed.

"I don't think so, after all this time, I'm sure she's after some revenge for what we've done to he-"

I cut myself off then. An eerie feeling of sickening power came over me and I could feel it as it was _so_ close to me. Why didn't I feel it before? My eyes went wide as I felt it from below me. I looked down and an icy eye appeared through the ground.

"MOVE!" I shoved my friends back and suddenly Rose appeared with Razi at my feet. Blaze was quick to turn and me to transform before we blasted them both with a fire blast and the pyramid went up in flames.

**Third Person Point of View:**

Jezebel Emery-Twain had been startled by the fact that Rose had grabbed her from below, but that wasn't about to stop the girl. She merely changed her form and fired a flame attack at her with the help of her blaziken. The rest of Jezebel's team were quick to release themselves as did the other three teams of her friends.

Aria's newest pokemon, Deoxys, lifted both her and Casey into the air to keep them safe due to the fact they weren't changeling like their two other friends were. Mattie was the other human that remained as he took on the form of his delcatty. Pointed ears appeared don his head while his eyes turned black and a couple tails appeared behind him with claws and sharp teeth appearing too.

In the middle of the field, where Razi and Rose reappeared, both were in changeling forms of their own. Rose was in her classical gengar changeling form while her brother was in a new one, his persian. Rounded ears appeared on his head while a curled tail appeared on the back of him. His eyes were thin now, the pupil that is, and was red in color. He hissed out and a piece of gold appeared on the top of his head.

Razi was quick to dive in then, heading after the other feline changeling. Mattie was soon engaged in a fight with the older male and was pushed off to the side where all their pokemon and them were in a deep fight. That only left Jezebel and Rose.

Brandon had since moved away from his trainer block as to not get in the way. Deoxys easily carried him out of the way while Brandon released his three pokemon to help out. Legendary golem pokemon appeared. One made of ice, one of stone and one of steel. All three of the pokemon threw their hands onto the ground and upset the ground of the pyramid. Everyone jumped into the air as the attack on the ground seemed to crumble the walls and the area around them.

"Jezebel! Mattie! Look out!" Aria cried out helplessly from the air while her pokemon held onto her with its tentacle like arms. Deoxys took the three humans out of the building by using teleport and from the outside of the building, it could be seen that the entire Battle Pyramid came crashing down on top of all the pokemon.

"You guys alright?" Casey called out to the pile of rubble. "Jez! Matt!"

An explosion went off next and debris from the Battle Pyramid was scattered great distances as many parties appeared from in the rubble. Mattie was off to the side, still facing off with Razi and easily holding his own with the strength and determination of his feline pokemon. Mattie's pokemon then along with a few others were facing off to Razi's three. His persain hissed as it brought down its claws to some of the pokemon while the mismagius and yanmega backed it up with ghost, bug and flying type attacks.

Looking to another section, Rose and Jezebel were at it, clawing at each other and using other attacks on each other. Jezebel would blow fire while Rose would become intangible and sink through the ground. Rose was dodging as she tried to get close and lay a mark on the younger woman. Close to them was an all out brawl on Rose's pokemon by Jezebel's and some of the others that were lingering around. The genger and hypno were well at holding their own. Curse attacks held most of the pokemon at bay while Darkness was able to fire one back, a first for the duo. The two fighting types jumped in then to deliver powerful strikes which threw the pokemon for a good distance and into the set of woods then.

Things soon changed though as Rose silently screeched and barely dogged a fist. Violet had quickly joined the battle and her pokemon appeared at her side and spread out among the field. With the two changeling females together, they charged at Rose.

Violet, being the faster of the two, reached her first and was quick to swipe her claws at Rose in the form of her shiny charizard. The claws barely missed their mark as Rose pushed herself backward, but Jezebel was right behind Violet. The youngest female threw her fists together up into Rose's back and it shot her up into the air. Rose silently coughed out as she was tossed and tried to regain herself as Violet came crashing into her again, but this time, Rose was able to throw her back. Rose tossed Violet, from where she had grabbed her arms, into Jezebel and the two of them crashed into the ground.

The two males saw the display of action as they fought each other off to the side and Mattie watched as Razi grinned.

"Those two bitches are finally gonna gets what's coming at them, and so are you, now hold still you little shit!" Mattie dodged the attack as Razi lunged forward and Mattie took advantage of that and kicked him in the back as Razi flew past him.

"Rose won't win! None of us will let that happen!" Mattie snapped back at the man. Mattie was quick to change his form to that of his legendary beast. He could feel the orb sending power throughout his body and red markings soon appeared while his eyes glowed blue and a his legs vanished and turned into fins. Mattie brought upon water to the area. Razi quickly saw this and changed his form to that of his yanmega and wings sprouted from his back and his eyes covered over with red coatings to protect them and an armor covering his body as well. A tail came out of him and he flew up into the air to avoid the water. Mattie easily sunk his body in and swam around, circling around Razi's body from below. Mattie suddenly disappeared and Razi raised an eyebrow before Mattie flew out of the water and used his tail to throw Razi down into the water, sinking him in. Mattie dived back in and raced to hit Razi while he couldn't breath and the air was knocked out of him.

From above, the women were still battling. Out of the rubble came the two champions that jumped up into the air and they both changed their forms. Jezebel was quick to turn to her shiny flygon's form while Violet changed to that of her articuno. Violet rushed forward and Rose wasn't expecting that sort of speed from her, the force of Violet's body crashing into Rose's threw her back, and like a second wave, Jezebel flew in next.

But Rose was ready this time, and she threw out her arm as Jezebel came in…

And Rose stuck her arm through Jezebel's abdomen.

The world froze when this happened. Rose was grinning as she finally got an attack in on one of them while Jezebel was barely holding onto her as the blood came flying out of Jezebel's mouth and rolling down Rose's body and arm. Violet was frozen for only a moment before her face turned into pure rage and fire overcame her body.

Violet's pokemon and all those on the island could feel the rage coming off the female and it instantly threw everyone into action, sending them toward where the woman was.

Violet was about to make her move when Jezebel somehow turned Rose toward her. Rose was shocked that the younger girl still had so much energy and when she looked down to look at her, Jezebel was glaring at her with a mad look in her eyes. The whites of her eyes glowing behind the blue coatings over then. Her wings flapped heavily as Rose tried to pull away and Jezebel grabbed on with her claws, digging them into Rose's new arm and using the crevices to hold her in place. Rose cried out as it pulled on the remains of her real arms.

"Violet! Get her now!" Jezebel cried out from where she was trapped with the evil woman. "Don't worry about me! This is our only shot!" Jezebel coughed up more blood and Violet was torn between her rage and shock as she floated there with the black aura all around her, practically lifting off her like heat in the cold.

Violet cursed herself at the difficult decision she had, but she knew she had no other choice. Jezebel had accepted the possible fate of dying, and she was willing to hold Rose in place to use the attack and take her down.

Violet let the rage consume her just as others arrived at the area to watch. One look at the situation forced them all to gasp as Norman ran forward before them all.

"VIOLET! NO!" But the cry was too late. Violet had made her decision.

"BLAST BURN!" From Violet's mouth came an exploding amount of white fire. Rose watched in horror as the flames came at her and she tried to pull away. Jezebel took no chances and sunk her teeth into Rose's shoulder. The woman cried out as the fire attack overtook them both.

Seeing the explosion above, Mattie rushed to the surface of the water as Razi was floating in the water. Mattie broke the surface and with his advanced eyes, he looked through the fire to watch as his girlfriend get hit by the flames along with Rose.

"JEZEBEL!" Two bodies feel from the fire and Jezebel's form returned to normal, as did Rose's. Their bodies came crashing down into the earth and Mattie's eyes went wide. He ran from the water, his form changed back to that of his gardevior and he teleported up into the air to catch her. He didn't stumble this time, but as soon as he saw her condition, his eyes started to let loose a river of tears.

The wound in her lower abdomen was torn to shreds, it went right through. On her face, streaks of fire had left burning scars upon her left side of her face. One of them streaked right over her eye and another over her cheek bone, almost like a two fingered claw mark. Mattie set her down on the ground and was quick to change form again, taking on that of his roserade. "Roza! Help me!"

His grass pokemon quickly appeared at his side and the two of them started to heal the girl that lay dying at his hands. Mattie didn't even care if he had won the battle, all that mattered was Jezebel.

From above, Violet let loose her own tears, feeling so guilty for what she decided to do. While Mattie and many of the others that had soon arrived to the battlefield hurried over to the girl to help heal her, Violet watched the areas where there were still pokemon to beat, with both their trainers gone. Jezebel's quick decision just may have taken down Rose for good.

Rose's pokemon quickly saw what happened and it soon became relevant that the battle was over, but not won in the way Violet would like. Hypno teleported all members of both their teams and their trainers out of sight. Violet's eyes glared, but soon calmed themselves. She knew that in order to stop Rose she have to take down her pokemon next time before she could take down the woman. They were her ticket to escaping.

But Violet didn't really care about that right now. All that mattered was that Jezebel was alright. Violet flew down to the ground and landed next to the girl and instantly changed her form to start healing the girl too.

"Why did you do it?" Violet could hear the strain of the father's voice that hung over her head. She could feel the rage shaking off of him as he held himself back from punching her.

"Jezebel told me to. It was one of our only shots at getting Rose…"

"AND YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE MY DAUGHTER?!" the man roared out and Violet flinched at his tone. But she took it; she deserved it after what she did. She was guilty, she didn't want to make that kind of decision at all, but Jezebel had begged her to do it, to avenge her mother. It was one of the most important things to Jezebel, and Violet knew the girl would do anything, even giving her own life, to get back at Rose for the death of Brittany Emery-Twain.

It was one of the hardest decisions she had to make, other then when she had to choose between saving Alex all those years ago or capturing Rose.

"You stay the hell away from my daughter!" Norman pushed Violet away. He punched her in the face and everyone was stunned silent and powerless to stop him. The champion did nothing to stop him as she took his hits.

"STOP IT!" Mattie cried out as he held bloody hands over his girlfriend's body. "JEZEBEL DOESN'T WANT YOU TO FIGHT! SHE ASKED VIOLET TO DO WHAT SHE THROUGH WAS RIGHT!"

"AND THAT MEANS KILLING MY DAUGHTER?!"

"I DIDN'T WANT TO HURT HER!" Violet finally spoke up as he body shook with sobs. "I didn't want too… she begged me to do it while she held Rose with her own wound! Do you think I wanted to do it?"

"Well clearly you did because my daughter is dying!" Norman threw another punch, but it never hit Violet. No, something else jumped into the way and caught his fist. Norman's eyes bulged out of his head as his daughter stood there before him, hatred in her eyes.

Everyone was shocked, but none so more then her father when the thirteen year old girl pulled his fist out of the way and threw her's into his face, tossing him back and onto the ground. Just as quickly as she had stood, she fell. Jezebel strained for air as she tried to remain at least half way up, but it took the added help of Mattie (who rushed over to her) to keep her sitting upwards.

"Don't touch her…" Jezebel breathed out. Her words were icy to the ears and made everyone shiver. "I told her to do it… don't put this on her."

"Jez…" Her father quickly got back up, his daughter had socked him good, blood was trailing out of his nose as he watched her strain, using only determination and her own stubbornness to keep her going. Jez slowly rose to her feet and stood before her father, a pained smile on her face.

"It's my fault… I told her to do it…" Jezebel gasped out. "Don't blame Vi… I wanted… to avenge Mom… and our family…" She smiled up at him. "And I will…"

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and both males that loved her unconditionally had to race to stop her decent.

"Jezebel!" her father gasped as he held his little girl in his arms. He cried a bit before he looked up at the champion he'd hit. "I'm sorry… please help my daughter…"

Violet only nodded before helping him again, she refused to touch the fist mark on her own face, or let Alex touch it when he came close.

It wasn't long before Jezebel was healed enough to remove from the sight and take to a hospital. She was carefully transported to Evergrand City for recovery where her friends and family waited for her to wake.

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Far off, on a cruise ship did the five pokemon of Rose and Razi decide to hide away their trainers. Within a large cargo hold, Rose's pokemon easily slipped food from the rest of the ship to bring down for their trainers while Razi's pokemon kept an eye on them. None of them were able to heal others, not without sucking the life out of someone, but that was too dangerous. They couldn't do it while they were so wounded. Only two people of the IPHP League faced them. It would be suicide to do so. The rest of them were all more then prepared for battle.

It was in that moment that one of the two of them rose. Razi coughed heavily and sat up from where he was laid out. His pokemon watched as he sat up and he looked around, not recognizing where all of them were.

"Shit…" He hissed out as he looked around. His eyes suddenly fell on Rose and he gasped. "Sis!"

He dived for her then, checking the pulse and was shocked to see it holding so well. She was still knocked out of it and her body was entirely covered in burns on her backside, which was facing upward. He saw her breathing move the cracked pieces of skin holding on by a thread. The slightest movement would cause the skin to break and her to bleed out.

"Damn…" he groaned as he assessed the damaged. "She won't be moving for a while… Wait, where are we anyway?"

"Miss…" His pokemon slowly approached him and used her abilities to update her trainer on what had taken place. Razi slowly nodded his head and looked out the small window next to them.

"So that's what happened. I got beaten by a kid… and a weak one at that…" He smacked his head and sighed. "Any idea where we're going? Looks like we have to start all over again."

"Meow…" his persain said.

"Sinnoh huh?" Razi questioned with a smirk. "I think Rose will like that. She put a spell on someone all that time ago when we were doing research on legendary beasts… I guest its time to pay him a visit and up the crime there."

"Gen…" Gengar hovered closely to Rose, worried that any humans would come here.

"Just hypnotize them Gengar, we won't let them get to her. We'll heal when we get to Sinnoh." The ghost pokemon only nodded as she worriedly looked down at her trainer.

_The pokemon looked like she wanted to kill for her trainer…_

**Violet's Point of View:**

It was a few days after the battle and Jezebel was slowly recovering in the hospital in Evergrand City. Her friends and family visited her daily as she healed and it wouldn't be long before she would be back on her feet.

For the bravery she showed during the battle, Brandon wanted to give his symbol to her without a fight. It was more then fair, but I told him to hold off on that. He could give it to her later, after _my_ final test of power.

I sat over on a bench at the bottom of the hospital and sighed. _It wouldn't be long now._

"Vi? What are you doing out here?" I turned my head to see my boyfriend and eldest younger sister champion. Alex had his arms crossed when he saw me before taking the seat next to me. Gwyn looked at me worriedly before she sat down on the other side of me.

"Nothing… just… preparing myself mentally for what's to come next."

"What do you mean by that?" Gwyn questioned. "Rose is gone, but she's in no condition to fight, neither is Razi…"

"You going fight her, aren't you?" Alex could read my mind before I could utter a word. I grinned at him before I stood. I gave him a light peck to the lips.

"Looks like it." I called out Amethyst and she prepared herself for me to sit atop of. "Tell Jezebel that I'll be waiting for her at the top of Meteor Falls, where she trained all those months ago. Its time I end this chase she's been on and give her an ending and a new beginning."

I hopped onto Amethyst after that and had her race to the mountains while the others were forced to wait behind. I smiled to myself. I was more then excited to finally face this powerful opponent.

**Witch's Note:**

**OH MY GOD! CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS LATER CHAPTER?! I CAN'T AND I **_**WROTE**_** IT! Man… but I liked it a lot! I've been waiting to get to this point for forever! I'm so happy to finally get to this point and look back on it.**

**But this is the first time I've majorly hurt one of the main characters. What did you think of all that drama? Or what Jezebel did? I can't believe I made her sock her father… But it was fun!**

**Now we move onto the last part of the book! JEZEBEL AND VIOLET BATTLE! Oh I can't wait to get started. In fact, I better run so I can do that!**

**So I'll see you all next week! Love you all and send in Reviews and Questions since you ONLY HAVE ONE WEEK LEFT! After I post the last chapter, you have until midnight on the day I post the questions to get them in. If you don't get them in, I'm sorry, but they won't be accepted!**

**See ya!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	37. A Final Test of Power

_Pokѐmon Journey III: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 37: A Final Test of Power_

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

I was shocked to hear from Alex and Gwyn later on that I would be facing my final test of power, a battle between Violet and myself. I'd long dreamed of this moment as I rested in the hospital with Mattie and my father at my side and fighting with each other all the time (to the point where I had to hurt them both to shut them up.)

I'd just been released from the hospital and we were all on our way to the mountain. Alex had explained to me some rules before I could climb to the top. I wasn't allowed to use my flying types to carry me to the top, only to cross impassable ways. I had to wait until everyone else was atop the mountain before I could travel. I was also supposed to travel with only my pokemon, no human companions. It sucked a bit, but I'd live. It just meant that I'd make a fool of myself with my pokemon to stay entertained.

I was traveling now with my friends as we headed to the base of the mountain. I was to remain while they climbed on their flying pokemon to the top to wait for me. Mattie was at my side now, he held my hand as we landed and all stepped off our pokemon for a moment before we would go our separate ways.

"Be careful as you head up Jez," Casey noted as he looked up the mountain. "I can't see the top, and who knows who's the last person to ever be up there. Could be really dangerous."

"I'm sure she'll be fine! We always are in the end!" Aria giggled and came over to hug me. "You will be, right?"

"Of course Aria, I'll be up there and you all will see an amazing battle." I smiled at her and the others.

Mattie came up next and we shared a small kiss, one that still made me burn hotter then a white flame. I hope it always feels like this…

"We'll see you at the top Jezebel," he said as he squeezed my hands. "Please be careful."

"I do what I can Mattie, but you know me, not always good at 'careful'." I pulled him in close for a hug and he held me to him with all of his might, I was shocked at just how much stronger he'd become over this year, does his heart problems not bother him anymore? I honestly never asked him about that since we first met. I should later on…

"Well, we'll see you soon Jez." The others backed away from me and they soon left on their pokemon up to the top of the mountain. I waved and watched them leave before I sat down on the ground.

"And now we wait until everyone's gathered at the top, and then we'll go."

**HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I had to wait for many hours before I saw that I had gotten a call from Mattie to let me know that everyone was at the top. I let out a breath after I ended the call with him and I made my way up to the entrance that I had been at before when we trained here all that time ago.

Once inside, I saw the dark stone that had a blue hue to it. They crowded around the entrance before extending into a larger space where I saw many pokemon moving about the floor. Most of them ignored me as they saw me, but some actually ran or would angrily fire off an attack. I ignored it and simply stepped to the side and continued to move forward while the pokemon would still growl at me angrily as I passed.

"So it seems that the pokemon here aren't too happy we're back." I snorted a laugh and grinned. "Oh well… too bad for them…"

I shook my head as I made it further inside and noted how everything looked the same. As I approached the waterfall in the back stone room, I smiled at the memories of camping out next to the roaring water to keep most pokemon away from us in the night. It was a while back and it had me laughing, because this was before any of us got together and it was funny to think back to the arguments Aria and Casey would have.

As soon as I saw the waterfall, I was pretty pleased with myself. _An easy way up part of the mountain in no time at all… sounds good to me._

"Alright then, Acey, wanna give me a hand?"

**Silky's Point of View:**

I was happy to be one of the only ones out while Jezebel slowly started to ascend to the top of the mountain. Her first obstacle seemed to be that of the waterfall she used to hang out and around with all the others. Man had it been a long time since we'd been here…

"Alright then, Acey, wanna give me a hand?"

My sister was on it only seconds. Acey called herself out of her pokeball and grinned when she saw the sheer size of the thing. The waterfall was very wide, ranging for many hundreds of feet. It rose over at nearly five times that size and I almost couldn't see the end of it.

"Alright!" Acey was quickly before Jezebel and stuck her head through the human's girl's legs before allowing her to slide on her neck down to her shoulders. "This is awesome! I can't wait to go!"

Without even waiting on an order, Acey jumped up into the air and took off. She soared against the edge of the waterfall before she pulled back a bit and I dared to look over my shoulder and down. The floor seemed to fade before long, and it made me glad that heights never bothered me. Jezebel was laughing below me while Acey continued her fast trek up.

We were about halfway up when things got messy…

A sudden flock of golbat suddenly sprang out at us with their fangs exposed. I gasped when I saw the sheer number of them, it was a horde. Hundreds, maybe even thousands seemed to be before us as we made our way. There was no way to see the top of the waterfall with how many of them there were. They blocked out the area above.

"Take them out Acey!" Jezebel lowered her body closer to Acey's neck and grabbed on tight. "Fire blast!"

Fire erupted from the dragon's mouth and soon it was evident that the golbats were falling rapidly from our assault on them, but that didn't seem to the stop them from coming at us. As their numbers went down, the many that remained seemed to only fly faster at us until their bodies soon grazed our own, I could feel their wings hitting Jezebel and Acey. I tried to cover Jezebel's head as best I could, but I soon felt myself grabbed by with a wing and thrown off into the mix.

"Silky!" I heard Jezebel call, but in the moments I was thrown off, she had become invisible to me. I couldn't see her through the horde that surrounded me.

"Damn…" I hissed out and created a ball of fire in my hands. "Sunny day!"

I threw it up into the air and all the pokemon around me shied away from it. They cried out from the bright light where their eyes were not accustomed to it and backed off. Fire soon came racing around me and I saw Acey zip in and Jezebel was quick to grab my body and hold me close to her chest while Acey dived once more toward the sky. She threw out her fire blast, which had doubled in power thanks to my attack, and it seemed to take out most of the damn stragglers that were after us.

"Everyone alright?" I looked up to Jezebel as she looked down at me worriedly.

"I'm fine." I shimmied my way up her body and placed myself on her head again while Acey turned back and grinned.

"I'm more then good; I bet those idiots will think twice before messing with us again!" Acey grinned as she soon pushed against the wind with her wings faster and in a few seconds, we had made it to the top of the waterfall. Jezebel grinned when she saw it and pointed over to a spot of land she wanted Acey to set us down at.

Once Acey was on the ground, Jezebel jumped off her back and I gripped back onto her head. I saw that the path ahead was really dark, I couldn't see any light.

"Thanks Acey." Jezebel rubbed the sides of her head and Acey grinned.

"No problem! Call me out if you need anything else! Otherwise I'm saving my energy for Violet!" Acey returned herself to her pokeball and Jez seemed to smile at the mention of battling Violet.

"You seem excited." I noted to my human trainer.

"Of course I am!" Jezebel laughed as she turned toward the dark path and started to walk down it. "This is something I've wanted to do for forever now! And now I can't even believe its finally coming true!"

The girl seemed to be gushing with energy, but so were all of her team. We were all looking forward to facing the strong trainer that would really test us and see how powerful we were compared to her.

"Do you think we can beat her?" I dared to ask my human trainer after a moment or two. Jezebel looked at me worriedly for a moment.

"I'm not about to give up my fighting spirit, because we're going to give it our best shot no matter what, but as for beating her… I honestly have no idea." Jezebel sighed. "Ever since we met Violet at Dewford, her power I knew was always so beyond everyone's league, even ours back then. I feel like we match up now, but I can't honestly tell you if we'll win or not. We'll just have to go all out and give it our best shot."

"I think that's the first time you've said we can't win…"

"It is… but you remember how powerful Violet felt to us back in Granite Cave? I could have been tossed all over the place." I saw Jezebel shiver. "I still remember that feeling… it was intense…"

I watched as she soon shook her body out and clenched her fists. "Regardless, we'll fight our hardest and do our best to beat her, like we do any battle!"

I grinned. "Sounds good to me Jez!"

"But these tunnels are getting darker, I can't see anything now." Jezebel sighed before she reached down and grabbed a pokeball off her belt and threw it out. "Help me out Darkness!"

My ghost type brother was soon released from his pokeball. He glanced around at the lack of light in the room before he glanced back us, who could barely be seen. I was on top of Jezebel's head and I could barely see her below me.

"Yes…?"

"Do you think you could lead me through this dark path? I can't see, but I know you can."

"Of course…" He allowed his hand to gently take Jezebel's and he slowly began to led us through the void of black. "Watch your step… there's many jagged edges before you…"

"Thanks Darkness."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

Darkness had led us for a good many hours. He told us when to watch our footing more often then not. He could see the path clearly, and when there was a fork in the road, he'd describe each path and show me a mental image so I could choose. Eventually it must have paid off for soon enough, a light could be seen. I grinned as I could finally see where I was going and ran slightly ahead of Darkness.

"Light!" I grinned and rushed up to the opening. I saw that there was a space just outside of the opening. I was shocked to see how many thousands of feet we were above the actual ground. I could see the ocean past the edges of the island region while Mt. Chimney glowed with heat and the lava of its center. I could see the soot and desert routes as well as the thin forest that surrounded the edges of this mountain.

"Wow…" I couldn't help but gush at the view. I'd never been this far up on the island before. Even when flying I'd never been up this high. It was incredible to feel cold air on my skin, which actually brought bumps to my arms from the cold wind. It felt… really nice. I wish I had been exposed to this kind of weather before; it might have calmed me down a lot in the past.

"Beau!" Silky cheered on the top of my head, but she was quick to hold her body closer to me to keep warm.

"Why don't I return you for the time being to keep you warm Silky?" My eyes narrowed a bit as I saw her shiver. "You look cold."

"Beau…"

"Don't worry about it." I pulled out her pokeball. "I'll let you know when we get there." I returned her then and turned my head back to Darkness who slowly made his way out from the black void of where I came out of. "Thanks for the help Darkness. I'm going to take a break here and give you guys one too before we keep moving up and before it gets colder."

He nodded. "Dusk…" I returned him then and took a moment to enjoy the cold breeze before it settled down and I figured a good break for us would be in order. I had all day to climb, and it looked like I was already halfway up the mountain. But part of it seemed like I would have to climb it outside.

As a distraction, I pulled out the last diary of my mother's collection. I'd read through all of them in the time frame of her death until now. It was incredible to know her entire life, but it still hurt that I would never hear it from her lips. My mother only made it through a few passages into this book, not even a fourth of the way through. I'd read a few of them this morning, and it was of my mother recording that she had just been taken in by my father after she'd broken free of Rose's control. If I remember correctly, it was the last entry before she died…

I opened up the book and made it to the last passage I'd yet to read. It was marked with a green bookmark, which I pulled back and held between my fingers as I looked to the last entry.

"_Man has it been a long time since I felt this content… maybe it's because I'm free of that devil woman… no, it's more then that. Maybe it's because I'm finally ready. I'm more then finally ready to die. _

_I can't believe I just said that. _

_The thing I regret the most is never telling my daughter that I loved her. If I never say anything to her, to show her I care, then I will die with the guilt that I never got to say it. One time, one time before I die I will tell her I love her. And when I do… I will never hurt my loved ones again. I will always help them to heal what is broken, because if I am the cause, I do not want our final separation to be that of hatred. I will not die and leave them with nothing but tears and an aching heart. There is true strength in forgiving others when it wasn't your fault. And if it was your fault, then forgive yourself when you're ready._

_I should have forgiven myself long ago, but I always felt it was my fault because that woman got to me, but there was nothing I could do, I was powerless. I should have known that from the start. _

_We're heading to Sootopolis tomorrow. I'm more then worried about my baby and her friends, but I have a deep feeling in my gut that it's going to be alright, and that I need to just let go…_

_I don't know why, but I feel like this may be my last entry to write. Whether it is or isn't, I'll say this now, to whoever is readying this, please let my baby girl know just how much I loved her, even if I was unable to show it. Let my words in these books of my past experiences guild her on her way through life. _

_And if its you reading it Jezebel… know that I loved you with all my heart, and nothing that happens to me is your fault. I know I must have caused you so much grief, so please… forgive me, and if you blame yourself, don't. It was never your fault. Forgive and move on. I know you'll get her. _

_Get that devil woman for me._

_Love you…_

_Love Mom_

I couldn't help but freeze as I read the last passage. No more words for me to hear from my mother, it was all done now.

_There is true strength in forgiving others when it wasn't your fault. And if it was your fault, then forgive yourself when you're ready._

I never blamed my mother once I found the truth behind everything. She was never at fault. Rose was. And yet, I felt I was partly responsible too. My mother lay dying before me, Rose escaped, _twice_, and I couldn't do anything. It made the claw like burn ache on my face.

I felt my team let themselves out of their pokeballs and quickly surround me. I felt their arms and bodies wrap around me.

"Forgive myself…?" Could I? "I guess… I can do it since you did Mom…"

That last phrase my mother left me with, that one that was so quote like, I put my bookmark on that page and stood up. My team looked at me worriedly, but I smiled back at them.

"I think I got an idea of a second tattoo I want besides the IPHP League tattoo." I stretched, my short break was over and it was time to get back onto the road. "Let's go you guys. Blaze, Blade, want to go with me?"

"Blaze."

"Gall."

I returned the others and my two fighting types stood at my sides as we started to move up the mountain.

**Blaze's Point of View:**

I'd never seen the snow before. I was surprised to feel the cold, white pieces floating down from the sky and landing on my body. They melted on my body and turned to beads of water before they became steam, no different then my breath as we kept moving forward. I tried to keep the area around me warm not only for my own body, but for Jezebel's as well, though she seemed to be handling the cold well with little clothing. She seemed more then excited, as well as warm.

Now that we were out in the cold, she seemed to be running all over the place, but she also seemed at peace as well. It seems that the final passage from her mother must have given her some closure of sorts and allowed the girl to forgive herself. Blade could see it as well, and I saw it brought a small smile to his face.

_I'm glad to see her smile…_ His thoughts traveled to only me. It is not that we wanted to keep Jezebel out per say, but in case we said something that would upset her, we didn't want her to hear it. It was not often that we saw her give us a sweet smile like when she was younger or before such horrible events had taken place.

_I agree,_ I nodded. _Maybe now that she has forgiven herself, she may do so more often. She has us, and Mattie, and Aria, Casey… all of their pokemon as well. She has so much now…_

_I know, and I hope it remains that way for a long time. _

"Blaze! Blade! Look at all the snow!" Jezebel was acting like a young child, which I'm sure she hasn't been able to do in a long time. She picked up the powdery snow in her bare hands and threw it up into the air. It glittered in the sun as it floated back down and landed all over her. She laughed and fell back into it. I heard her yelp from the cold snow against her skin and more sensitive places.

"Wow that cold!" She laughed and made a snow angle by swinging her arms and legs. When she was done, Blade lifted her up with his powers and she was set over into my arms to warm her up a bit.

"Looks like I did a good job." She turned to us. "Do you two want to try?"

"I'd melt the snow as soon as I'd touch it." I shrugged. "Maybe when we have more snow then this."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Besides," Blade grinned at her, "Don't you want to make it to the top and battle Violet?"

"Oh yeah!" She grinned and grabbed our hands and pulled us along. "Let's keep moving then! I gotta stop stopping or else we'll never get there!"

Jezebel raced with our hands in hers as we made it closer to another entrance to the mountain. We had moved up much further then before, and at first glance, I could see the top was getting closer. I could feel the power of my opponent. My opponent, the fire dragon known as Amethyst, I would face at the top. I could feel her intense fire from here, and it was burning me to the core.

I was more excited then ever.

"Look, there it is!" Jezebel brought me from my thoughts then and pointed out another doorway to lead back into the mountain. Jezebel hardly gave us a moment to look it over before she dived inside with our hands still in her own. As soon as we arrived inside, I saw that there was a pathway that led up the sides of the walls. Jezebel sprang toward them, but I was faster and pulled her back just as something shot into the wall before us.

"What the hell?" Blade jumped before me while I held Jezebel before myself. "What was that?"

"Stay back!" Blade looked over his shoulder to look at Jez before he charged into the dust cloud that emerged and I quickly heard rock bodies clashing with his sword like hands.

"Blade!" Jezebel called out worriedly to him. "Take them out!" She turned to me. "Blaze, help him!"

"But I can't leave you-"

"Go!" She hollered and that made me move. As much as I didn't want to let her go, she slipped from my grip and shoved me forward. I used my foot then to push myself next to my fighting brother and claws landed on a rock hard body. A lunatone showed up out of the dust while a solrock flew over my head. An army of the rock bodied, psychic types were coming at us.

They flew past us in an easy succession. I gasped and turned as they headed for Jezebel. Blade grabbed me and teleported us right before her and I let loose thick flames of white fire and it sent the group packing away from us or on the ground, blacker then a onyx. I watched as more of them showed up and started to circle around us.

I looked back at my trainer. "Get back Jezebel!"

"What? Blaze! What's going on? Let me help you!" I could feet her rushing forward toward us and Blade was quick to think fast and push her back and out of the cloud. I heard her curse at that before Blade made his way back over to where I was and helped me fight off the pokemon.

"Watch them on the right! They're going after Jezebel!" Blade nodded to me before rushing out back toward our trainer. Those things had incredible speed however and dived right for her with no remorse. My eyes widened as I watched them only feet away.

"Jezebel!" A sudden white light appeared around my trainer and Empyrean let herself loose from her pokeball. With a roaring crying, she glared at the wild pokemon that dared attack our trainer and sister. Empyrean wrapped her body around Jezebel and prevented the pokemon from getting to her while Empyrean blasted them with fire. Even with their hard bodies, they were considered rock and psychic types, which made her attack effective. It pushed them back heavily until Blade and I could make our way over to Empyrean and Jezebel.

"Nice Em!" Blade leapt over the end of her tail and punched a solrock with an ice punch. It fell backward and was knocked out. More of them swarmed around us and Empyrean seemed to get quite pissed. Her eyes narrowed and I watched as she roared and the entire area froze.

"You _will_ stay away from my trainer and sister!" The legendary beast shrieked as she glared out at the swarm around us. Part of them actually stopped and stood still as they watched her in fear. I snorted a laugh as I jumped up on top of her coiled body and allowed the markings to appear.

"Blast burn!" I short out the white fire attack at the swarm before us and the pokemon were submerged in it.

Blade jumped up next to me with a bright light emitted from between his arms. "Focus blast!" The white blast joined the fire in the air. The two attacks molded together.

"Blizzard!" Empyrean shouted behind us. I watched as the three attacks came together up above and illuminated the entire cave. The very size of it shook the walls around us and caused Jezebel to cry out and lose her footing under Empyrean's body.

An explosion like sound went off and part of the walls and ceiling started to collapse. Empyrean let Jezebel go and I reached down to grab her while Blade was before me, knocking away pieces in my way. Empyrean kept the smaller ones off of me and hovered over my head as we took off up the path of the walls of the mountain while we still had a chance. Blade and I jumped nearly a few hundred feet into the air and patches of light were coming in from where all the pieces of rock fell. Jezebel breathed deeply as she looked at the decent and the fallen rocks and pokemon.

The battle was over, and things had calmed down. The only sound we heard now was Jezebel's breathing and the strong wind against the rocks from the holes created above. Light was pouring in many different directions and allowing us to see clearly where we could and couldn't go. We were only a short ways from the end of this area.

"What the hell was that about?" Jezebel glared to the area below before she turned it back over to us.

Blade rubbed the back of his head. "I'm guessing they were mad at us for intruding…"

"No, why didn't you guys let me fight?" Jezebel scowled. "We're a team, aren't we?"

"Of course we are." I set the girl back down on her feet, now that I knew the ground was steady and she was safe again. "But even with everything that's happened to you, we didn't want you to get hurt, or lose the smile on your face."

She blinked at us. "Huh?"

"You've finally showed us a rare sweet smile that we haven't seen since you were young Jezebel," Empyrean started to explain. "We only wanted to keep that smile on your face and keep you from danger."

She sighed. "Okay, I understand, but next time let me help out." She glanced back at us. "I'm apart of this team for a reason, okay? I'm not dead weight."

"We never said you were, you're one of the most important people on it." I smiled at her. "So shall we move on? We're nearly at the top from how much we had to travel in that short time frame."

"Sure, oh look! There's the path!" Jezebel pointed to the doorway a short ways ahead of us. She was more then right. I saw on the path she had pointed out that there was a light that showed up, the entrance out of this section and most likely to the top of the mountain. She raced to it wit us right behind her. Empyrean smiled and easily returned herself to her pokeball while Blade and I caught up with her.

At the exit, we saw the mountain smooth out before there was a peak right before us, only so many feet away. I saw that many people were here all waiting and looking at us as we exited the cave. I saw the young green haired boy light up as soon as he saw Jezebel and rushed toward her.

"Jez!" Mattie crashed into her and the two of them were sent flying toward the ground. She laughed and the two shared a small kiss before others soon joined them, praising Jezebel for making it all the way to the top.

"Good to see you made it Jez." We turned our heads to the voice that stood out, Gwyn Jalen. She approached with a jacket in her arms for Jezebel to wear. A simple bright green color. Jezebel took if from her, but didn't put it on yet. She was still fuming with heat. "Now that you're here, we can start. Ready to battle Violet?"

Our trainer gave a wild grin. "Hell yeah!"

**Third Person Point of View:**

A short while later from when Jezebel finally made it to the top, she was situated on a open battlefield while many observers from gym battles, the Battle Frontier, friends, family and all others came to watch. At one side stood Jezebel, her entire team stood behind her as she looked to the other side of the tundra.

Violet was on the other end, a jacket now over her shoulders, the same one that she had used the past four years. Her chocolate brown eyes glanced into Jezebel's green ones, the two of them were locked in their gazes, waiting for one another to move or say something.

Finally, Violet broke the silence. "I've been waiting a long time to face off against you Jezebel. I always knew you would be powerful, but never did I think it would be difficult to overpower you. Reminds me of the days when I was a beginning trainer and most everyone was stronger then me, and I had to push past them to get stronger."

"I know what you mean, you felt like that to me when we first met. I remember when we met in the Granite Cave; I knew I could never beat you, even before I knew who you were. I felt the intense power rolling off of you and Gwyn, and I instantly wasn't sure what to do in case you were going to toss Aria and I around." She shook her head. "But I know differently now, and I am stronger now. I'm more then ready to face you and see how my power compares to yours."

"Then let's not hold that off any longer Jezebel, you and I have both been forced to wait an entire year for us to be ready for this battle, and it's beyond time we've had it." Violet was quick to pull out her glittering, snow covered pokeball and throw it out. "Start this off Sapphire!"

From the pokeball came the legendary bird of ice. The articuno looked down on the icy field and grinned. From around her body, ice crystals seemed to glisten on her body at the same time as flaking off her soft feathers.

"Then let's start out with the legendaries!" Jezebel grabbed the emerald covered pokeball and threw it out to the air. "Come on Empyrean, let's take them out!"

The legendary beast of the sky soon emerged and towered over the legendary bird of ice. The rayquaza glared down at the tiny bird and whipped out her tail before her, hissing lightly. The marks on her body glowed brightly on top of the mountain while the sun gleamed off her emerald green body.

"Alright Sapphire, start out with hail! Let's get a storm going!" The bird of ice screeched at the air and suddenly the wind picked up and Jezebel could feel the cold icy hitting at her skin. Jezebel hissed at it. It was a good and a bad cold. She could bare it, but not her dragon. Ice was super effective to her dragon _and _flying type pokemon. It would make for a horrible match up.

"Let's heat it up instead!" Jezebel threw her arm before her. "Use flamethrower!"

Fire blasted from the dragons mouth's and the ice bird screeched as she felt heat rather then cold.

"Into the air!" Sapphire took off and the attack missed just in the nick of time. The ice bird cried out while a trail of ice followed behind her. "Now use blizzard!"

"Kya!" Snow suddenly appeared and the winds tripled. Jezebel had to cover her eyes from the snow, an element she was not used to in the region of Hoenn. She glanced through the small hole in her arms to see her dragon suffering in the cold.

"Shit!" She cursed. "Empyrean! Hang on! Fire Blast! Warm this place up!"

Empyrean responded to her trainer, fire bursting at her mouth to warm the area us. With a screeching cry, fire suddenly lit the area and the younger trainer could see the snow instantly melting as the fire hit it. Jezebel heard a screech out on the other side of the field and soon enough, things went quiet.

The snow and the wind soon quieted down. Both pokemon could be seen. Emoyrean was coated in thick patches of ice all over her body while Sapphire suffered from thick burns that left black spots on her wings. Both were still standing and ready to go though and both trainers were just as ready to fight.

"Sapphire, can you fly?" The ice bird nodded to Violet and the woman nodded. "Then take the sky and use aerial ace!"

The bird raised its wings, cringing at some of the pain, but took off none the less and raced in the air to pick up speed. Empyrean watched it and waited on an order from its trainer.

"Can you fly as well Empyrean?" The beast nodded. "Good, then use extremespeed!"

The beast smashed its tail into the ground, knocking most of the ice off its body before it leapt into the air. The two pokemon then used their speedy attacks to clash into each other before rushing past. A few times did it happen before Violet flinched.

The elder champion could see that the two legendary pokemon were very close in power, there was hardly any difference. Jezebel had become very strong, strong enough where it put Violet on the edge. It had been a long time since it happened last… She hadn't felt this rush since the last time she faced Gwyn…

"Alright, I'm done playing this game! Finish this up Sapphire! Use sheer cold!" The ice bird screeched in the air before the temperature dropped below anything anyone could imagine and thick shards of ice shot up out of the ground, making its way toward the other pair.

"You're right, let's end this one!" Jezebel grimaced as she watched the battle. No way was Empyrean making it out of there with any strength left. "Use draco meteor!"

So why not take them out in one hit?

Meteors crashed down from the sky above and a screech could be heard from the icy bird. A roaring cry also came out from Empyrean, but no one knew how bad they both were with the dusty cloud of white that covered the field, preventing anyone from seeing everything.

The trainers were both stiff as they waited to see the result of their battle between their first two pokemon. The dust was slowly being cleared as the wind blew it away and to their shock, everyone saw that both pokemon were down.

"Damn… you are strong…" Violet returned Sapphire to her pokeball before pulling out the next, this one being a safari ball. "You ready for the next one?"

Jezebel quickly returned her pokemon and pulled out the next. "More then."

"Alright then, let's go Ruby!" Out came next the furious scizor. She threw her arms around with such force that the air whistled and was more then ready for a fight.

"Okay, let's go then Darkness!" The ghost pokemon was quick to come out and gazed down at Ruby with his one eye. The two met glaring eyes and both were ready for the next fight.

"I'm starting out this time, fire punch!" Darkness wasted no time executing his trainer's order and fire coated his fists and arms before he charged at the pokemon. Ruby was quick to jump out of his way and leap up into the sky with her wings, but the ghost pokemon kept right up after her. She was quick and crafty, able to avoid his punches, but the fire was starting to catch her on the edges of her armor. Slight singed markings, that she could hardly feel, began to show.

"Push back and silver wind!" Violet's cry was clear and Ruby was quick to respond. Using the fire of Darkness' fists, Ruby pushed back and sent the silver wind flying at him. The attacks met and the fire instantly exploded, forcing the two parties away to their sides of the field. Both had some markings, but the explosion wasn't all that big… yet.

"Now Ruby, let's coat the field!" Ruby was back on her feet and spitting out powder from her wings as fast as she could. It glittered all over the field and fell to the ground. Darkness refused to allow the stuff on him and hurried to where he wouldn't get covered or became intangible.

"Now Ruby! Light her up!" Ruby turned around on her wings and where she was just at the edge of the silver wind powder she had produced, she knocked the sides of her pincers together. The sharp blades met and made a spark, and that's all it took.

The battlefield lit up in flames as the entire silver wind powder caught fire and expanded. Darkness was thankfully not covered in it, but it was at his feet.

"Protect!" The younger female cried out. A shield was quickly over his body and it was soon evident that Ruby couldn't get him from the way she was fighting.

"Okay, a new strategy…" Violet looked around, seeing the explosive battlefield calm down for a moment as Ruby landed back next to her again. "Ruby, use fury cutter on it!"

The bug pokemon raced forward and threw her pincers down before the ghost pokemon. Darkness cried out as the attack hit, right over his chest and Jezebel couldn't stop herself from crying out.

"Darkness!" Jezebel gasped. "Sucker punch and fade out!"

The pokemon did as such. A quick blow to the pokemon's jaw was more then enough time to startle the pokemon and force her to close her eyes, allowing Darkness to fade away. When Ruby opened her eyes again, the pokemon was gone.

"Watch out Ruby! He's here, somewhere!" Violet called out.

Jezebel grinned from across the field and looked toward the area where Ruby was. "Darkness! Grab her and take her down!"

The ghost pokemon finally appeared then. His arms appeared out of the ground and grabbed Ruby's legs before dragging her under.

"Ruby!" Violet screamed.

"Now!" Jezebel screamed. An explosion went off under the ground and from the hole that suddenly appeared, dark spirits and strong glittering winds blasted into the sky before the blast suddenly vanished and the gaping hole began to crumble at its edges. Both trainers rushed out to the edges and looked below. Under many piles of rocks, Ruby was crushed and Darkness lay there with rocks floating through his ghostly body, but also knocked out.

"Damn…" Violet returned her pokemon before she pulled out another pokeball. "This is getting good…"

"Hell yeah it is!" Jezebel followed the older woman's actions and soon enough, another set were thrown out onto the field. "Let's go Acey!"

"Go Zircon!"

The two dragons were then summoned to the battlefield. Both took to the sky on their wings and suddenly crashed into each other without any warning. Their heads pushed against one another until the force was too great and both were shoved away to either side of the field.

"Easy their Zircon, don't rush into it too badly." Violet grinned from her side of the field.

"And why not?" Jezebel chuckled on the other side of the field. "Don't hold back Acey! Jump in with dragon claw!"

The ground dragon cried out before her claws glowed with the eerie color and the beast dived for her opponent. Just as the claw was about to make contact with the face however, the dragon pokemon looked pumped and ready to strike back.

"Now Zircon, dragon rage!"

Zircon's eyes suddenly turned red and the beast suddenly rushed toward the speeding flygon and slammed his fists into her, but not before a swipe was made across the face by said flygon. Both cried out and caught themselves in the air as they prepared for the next strike. Both dragons glared at one another before moving without the orders of their trainers.

Zircon came in first with his outrage taking control of his body. He sent his fists together and flew over Acey's back. Acey shifted the air under her wings before moving out of the way and then going in for another swipe at the other dragon. She dived and managed to collide her body with his and they both slammed into the ground. A dust cloud emerged over them.

Shadows could be seen through the icy dust. The dragons were wrestling and shot out of the cloud. The crashed into another set of rocks, both of them trying to overpower the other and throw the other into the heavy rocks around. An upper cut was delivered with the claws of Acey. She hit her mark of the under side of Zircon's chin before his tail whipped around and slammed into her body. She cried out as her body raced to the ground and crashed while Zircon hovered above.

Though things changed at that moment. Zircon, the dragon that was over powered by his outrage attack, was sawing and holding his head in pain. Acey pushed herself from the rubble and grinned when she saw this.

"Nice! He's confused himself!" Jezebel grinned and looked at her pokemon. "Get him Acey!"

"Rha!" The female dragon leapt into the air and slammed her body into the male one.

"No!" Violet cringed as she watched her baby dragon get hit. "Zircon! Take them out with draco meteor!"

Even with all the damage and pain induced on his mind and body, Zircon was able to hear the order of his trainer and understand the possible sacrifice he would make in this battle. He cried out and the portal appeared above all their heads as color meteors fell from the sky and landed on the battlefield Acey cried out as one hit her right on her tail, trapping her on the ground.

"Acey!" Jezebel cried out in alarm. "Use dig and get out of there!"

But the pokemon did not have enough time to do so, another one landed on her in a second as she began to dig downward. Meteors crashed all over the field, and even the one who summoned them was hit. Violet clenched her fist. She knew it was possible for her beloved baby dragon of four years to be hit, but she had no other choice to at least give Zircon the option of not losing to his opponent.

As soon as Zircon was down, the meteors stopped. Violet rushed out to her dragon and held him in her arms as Jezebel did a similar action, looking for Acey. She had been piled over with the meteors that had come crashing down on her while she was trying to escape. Jezebel shoved aside the debris and soon enough found her poor dragon at the base of it all, her tail still trapped and her body bruised. She was knocked out.

"Sorry I wasn't faster Acey, he got us." She returned her pokemon before returning to her side of the field. It was halfway over now. Three pokemon were down on either side. Now it was down to the next set.

"Alright, its time to take it up a notch!" Violet grinned wickedly as she threw out the next pokeball. "Let's go Chalcedony!"

The umbreon was soon to appear on the battlefield. He held his own to the harsh winds that soon took over the peak and his body glowed against the dust clouds of ice. A grin was set on his face as he slowly approached Jezebel's side of the battlefield before he sat and waited.

"Get ready! Let's go Silky!" Jezebel through out her pokeball and out came the shiny butterfly pokemon. Her colorful wings sparkled as the glitter rolled off of them. The two pokemon locked eyes before jumping to other sides of the field.

"Alright, we're over the halfway point. Things are going to get heated real soon…" Violet snickered as she looked over the field. "Now let's start out Chalcedony! Psychic!"

A rush of energy filled the field as the beautifly was forced to endure the horrid attack upon her mind. The female pokemon screamed out and her trainer looked just as horrified.

"Attack Silky! Silver wind!" The female pokemon screeched out and suddenly, strong winds of glittering dust started to cyclone around the field. Chalcedony looked upon them in fear before he was grabbed and thrown up into the air, crying out in pain and releasing Silky from the imprisonment of her mind. "Good job Silky!"

"Chalcedony!" The attack was super effective against the dark type pokemon, Violet was in trouble with this one. Jezebel's bug type had the advantage over her dark type. "Chalce, dispel it with dark pulse!"

The dark type hissed before his body was wrapped up in himself and even the glowing marks all over his skin vanished as darkness surrounded him. A cry rang out as the dark pulse was sent flying and the silver wind shattered, flying in all directions and nearly hitting the crowd. Alex made a quick dive from where he was and pulled up a chuck of earth to protect them all.

Jezebel and Violet stood still and silent as they wanted for Alex's call if everyone was alright. The eldest of the IPHP League slammed the stone back into the ground and grinned at his girlfriend.

"Careful Vi…"

She merely stuck her tongue out at him.

Alex shook his head and gave a wave of his hand, indicating to continue with the battle.

"Chalcedony, barrage of shadow balls!" The dark type grinned as he jumped backward and started to throw out surges of ghost energy into the air. Soon, as Violet had demanded, a army or such of shadow balls appeared and hurled themselves at Silky.

"Counter with whirlwind!" The beautifly suddenly threw up the power winds before her and the shadow balls were thrown high up into the air. They crashed into one another before breaking and ghostly dust fluttered down to the pokemon below. Chalcedony merely sat there as it fell on him, ghost types had no effect on dark, but Silky was another story. The powerful move had left her hurt as the dust touched her body. She screeched out as the dust sent painful dark energy through her body.

"Silky! Another whirlwind!" A great shove of energy from the beautifly's wings and the dark dust was sent toward Chalcedony. He merely sat there again. The wind may have been strong, but its contents, un-harmful to him.

"Damn it… this is getting annoying…" Jezebel hissed as she watched the battle slowly progressing. "I don't know how, and I'm sorry Silk, but that dark type is stronger then you… we gotta take him out."

"Beau!" The beautifly make her way over to where her opponent was and Jezebel sighed, knowing what Silky wanted to do. It was the only way to take down that dark type, since all other attempts had failed.

"Now Silky! Silver wind!" The silver wind hit the pokemon, but even with it being super effective, it seemed to have little effect on Chalcedony.

"I'm ending this poor battle now Jezebel!" Violet looked at her pokemon. "Now Chalcedony! User head butt and take that pokemon out!"

The dark pokemon charged headfirst into the silver wind and was only inches away when Jezebel chuckled.

"Sorry Violet, but I have a different idea in mind." Jezebel silently apologized to her pokemon in her head before she glared at Violet. "Now Silky, use sunny day!"

"No!"

But it was too late…

The bright, shining attack of fire hit the silver wind that covered the entire field and all its air and went up in flames. Both trainers shielded themselves from the attack, only to look moments later and see both of their pokemon black, burned well, and done.

"Mew damn it!" Violet huffed as she saw her pokemon, who was once winning, now down and out. She returned Chalcedony with a regretful sigh before she pulled out another pokeball. Never had she been so frustrated since she first started her journey, and she liked it and hated it all at the same time. "I'm not giving up yet! Let's go Amber! Take her out!"

The next pokemon out was the electric mouse pokemon of Violet's, her riachu. Amber's cheeks sparked heavily as she glared to Jezebel's side of the field, waiting on her opponent.

"Alright Blade, you're up next!" From Jezebel's side came her fighting and psychic pokemon. Blade threw down his arms, ready to swing at the electric mouse before him. The blade pokemon eagerly waited for the next battle.

"Go Amber! Start us off with thunder!" The raichu hissed out before it let out a whopping amount of energy and threw it into the sky before a beam of lighting shot down and moved its way toward Blade.

"Protect!" A shield suddenly covered the blade pokemon. The lighting strike hit, but did no damage to Blade. His shield kept up just long enough for the electricity to fade, where the shield was let go and it shattered. They were back at square one again.

"Now use quick attack!" The electric mouse quickly dashed forward and Jezebel was shocked to see how fast that pokemon actually was. She hissed.

"Teleport!" Blade vanished then and Amber looked all over, trying to find him. A sudden thought came to her through and she looked up. Blade was hovering in the air above. "Psycho cut!"

Blade threw out a brightly lit cut that slammed down into the air below him. Amber just barely dodged the attack and bounced back, but she was tiring out, as was Blade, their powerful attacks and dodging took their toll, even if none of them had hit each other yet.

"Alright, that's it!" Violet was getting impatient with the battle, shockingly so. It had been a very long time since she'd been so heated and prone to rush forward with her most powerful moves. "Amber! Finish this off with volt tackle!"

The electric mouse quickly rushed around the entire field, denting in the ground as she raced it over it. Electricity soon left her body and coming off her, making a yellow line around the entire field.

Jezebel hissed and threw out her hand toward her pokemon. "Its time Blade! Use close combat!"

The fighting type suddenly rushed forward with his body coated in a bright light. Just at the same moment, Amber turned her course and jumped toward Blade. His fist was thrown out as her body came in contact and a bright, yellow light blew up in the middle of the field. On Jezebel's side, through the cloud of dark smoke and smoldering ground, from being fried, Blade was thrown back to her feet. He rolled over his own limbs before landing in a pile.

On the other side of the field, Amber was hurled from the cloud and shot through the sky before her body came crashing in on the ground and she was left to toss and turn before she landed in Violet's arms, who readily caught her pokemon. Looking down upon the poor pokemon's face, Amber had given it her all, and was hit with all the male pokemon had.

"You did good Amber; we'll get her next time." She returned her pokemon and watched as Jezebel did a similar thing to one of her two strong protectors.

This was it… the last pokemon for both of them…

"You ready for this Jez? I'm boiling with excitement!" Violet grinned as she pulled out her old and weathered pokeball, the first one she'd ever received.

"More then. Bring it." Jezebel did the same action, pulling out her first pokeball.

The crowd watched, speechless, as the last pokeball for both were in their hands. All were on the edges of their seats, watching, to see who would be the winner.

"Let's go then Amethyst! Burn her black!"

"Kick her ass Blaze! We can do it!'

Both fire types appeared on the field then. The shiny charizard took to the air while the blaziken was jumping on his feet and kicking back and forth. He waited on her move.

"Alright Amethyst, let's kick this off with dragon claw!" The charizard's claw like hand was covered in that multi-colored energy before she charged forward, using the air under wings to help her dive at the pokemon.

"Counter with double kick!" Blaze quickly went into action and threw his legs up a the dragon attack coming in. His leg landed against the incoming claws and shoved them out of the way before a second leg flew up and over her claws. Amethyst just barely moved out of the way for his leg to hit the ground. Upon impact, the ground dented inwards and shattered, falling many feet below. Blaze brought his foot back up next to him and continued to jump from foot to foot to stay on his toes.

"Not bad, but let's see you try this! Flare blitz!" The charizard pushed itself back before becoming encased in a cloak of fire and racing toward Blaze.

"Counter with blaze kick!" Amethyst's head and Blaze's foot came in contact with each other and the two of them halted each others' attacks before being shoved to the other side of the field. Hardly any damage was on them, they weren't the strongest pokemon on each of Violet and Jezebel's teams for a reason.

"Good to know this won't be an easy battle." Jezebel grinned as she looked to Violet on the other end of the field. The older woman grinned back at her before calling out her next move.

"Now Amethyst! Air slash!" Amethyst jumped back up into the air before throwing her wings before her in a slashing movement. Air suddenly turned sharp and took a physical form before rushing at Blaze.

"Counter with brave bird!" It was a new move that would protect her fighting type from being harmed. Blaze gathered the air around him before bending close to the ground and wrapping his arms around himself. He then took off toward Amethyst.

The two attacks quickly made their way to each other before Amethyst's attack hit the brave bird, but was brushed off instantly. Violet was shocked and her eyes widened. Her pokemon had a similar look before she watched the fighting type close in.

"Now jump!" Jezebel cried out. Her pokemon compiled with her request and suddenly leapt into the air, inches away from Amethyst as the attack was closing in to hit.

"Fire spin!" The flying pokemon coated herself in fire and spun just as the attack hit her. The two attacks hit and the pokemon were thrown back from the explosion. Each pokemon landed by their trainers once more, and the two humans glanced at each other.

The two pokemon rushed to their feet, Amethyst being the first. As soon as she got good footing, she cried out, letting out an ear piercing roar. It shook the entire area and the ground visibly shook. Blaze was next to his feet and followed the other pokemon's lead. He cried out as well, the sound echoing everywhere on the peak. All the humans had to hold their ears from the destructive noise that gave the pokemon power through their frustration.

"Now Blaze!" Jezebel screeched over them.

"Amethyst!" Violet screamed.

"BLAST BURN!" Both pokemon refused to stop their screaming, so instead, they infused their attacks into it. Markings appeared on their bodies, and before anyone knew it, white fire shot out and the entire battlefield turned white in color, where no one could see anything.

Many people screamed from the blast, others were left frozen in fear from the destructive force that these two had. Only a few were left in wonder and excitement to see who would be the winner over the two destructive attacks.

Everything soon turned quiet after that. The cries of the pokemon stopped, the humans stopped screaming, even the cheering was over too. The entire battlefield was covered in a grey smoke. Everyone was left wondering what happened.

Then, a sound could be heard. The shuffling of a set of feet, two actually. Through the smoke, the crowd watched in shock as Violet and Jezebel were making their way towards the middle of the field, where they're pokemon were. Violet and Jezebel stopped a few feet from each other, just in arms reach, when they're pokemon appeared behind them, fallen to the ground. Neither Blaze nor Amethyst had emerged victorious.

The battle was a tie…

"A tie…" Violet was stunned as she looked at her pokemon. Amethyst barely opened an eye to look at her trainer. "I guess we need to work harder, don't we girl? Don't worry, you and the others did more then well today, she was just really strong."

The fire and flying pokemon nodded before closing her eye, accepting the tie.

"Damn it… we'll get better and stronger then, won't we Blaze?" Jezebel turned back to her pokemon and smiled. "We tied, that's more then I expected today from us. I'm just glad you guys are alright and did you best. Good job." Blaze lightly nodded his head and gave up, allowing sleep to overtake him.

The two girls turned back to each other. Violet was the first to make a move, holding out her hand for Jezebel to shake. "Well… I believe you've more then proved your place among us. You and your friends are more then welcome to join us; we could use all the help we can when it comes to Rose." Jezebel took it.

"I accept." Jezebel smiled at her. "Thank you Violet, for everything."

The older champion smiled. "Its no problem, now let's get back to your father's house, we have a few things to take care of as well as a party to celebrate on your job well done!" She then leaned down next to my face. "And to say good-bye, we leave for a new region called Sinnoh tomorrow. Things are getting dangerous over there, and that's where we know Rose is heading next."

The younger woman nodded. "Got it."

**Jezebel's Point of View:**

It had been an hour or two since Violet and I tied up on top of the mountain. We'd been partying every since then at my father's place in Petalburg. It had been a long day, with traveling up the mountain and then the major battle. It was crazy! But the real hard part was now, at this party. I was joining the IPHP League with my friends to go after Rose and take her down, and that mean leaving my father and the rest of my family behind. It was going to be one of the hardest things I do in my entire life, especially since my father and I only recently started to get to know each other in this past year. I finally got the rest of my family back, but now I'd have to leave… it was a tough event over all. And it sucked…

Violet had already talked with us about getting our tattoos for the league, as well as that special other one I wanted to get for my arm. Violet through it was more then appropriate to honor my mother, even showing me the elaborate one on her back to show how much dedication she had to her team and family. I was more then excited to get them, it was actually going to be right after the party, and my father still didn't know…

_Not exactly something I wanted to tell him… but I'm sure he would have figured it out in time, with every member of the IPHP League getting one. Hell… even Levy plans to get one when she becomes of age in two years. _

Mattie was at my side, holding my hand the entire time. He knew just how nervous I was about telling my family. He was nervous about telling his own, that was another thing he had to take care of before the day was over. They were here celebrating with us as well, but got lost in the crowd.

"We should probably face the music now, shouldn't we?" Mattie glanced over at me worriedly as I spoke.

"Yeah…" He sighed and pulled his hand out of mine. "I-I'll see you in a bit."

"Hey," I pulled him back. "Kiss for good luck." He smiled and pecked me on the lips before he took off to find him family. Once he was out of my sight, I sighed and slowly started to make my way over toward mine, who were mostly in the kitchen. I was also shocked to notice that all of the Frontier Brains were here as well, with the owner of the park, Scott.

"Hey there Jezebel!" Scott was the one to great me. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, my dad always seems to put on a really good meal." I saw my father beam at me in pride. "How about all of you? Recovered from the attack yet?"

"We're still working on repairs; my pyramid needs to be entirely re-done." Brandon groaned and crossed his arms. "But all other locations seem to be, for the most part, entirely intact. But during the time of the rebuild, we plan to close off that section of the island, because we want to introduce new places, new Frontier Brains to the park."

"Oh?" That got my attention. "Who would be your new Frontier Brains?"

"Well… that's the thing; we only offer positions to new possible Frontier Brains if they beat all of us at our own games." Anabel smiled as she sat on the counter next to Greta. "We already asked Casey and Aria, but neither of them wanted to join, and you know the IPHP League has said no to us already."

"So… that means…" I blinked at them, not really sure if I was right in what they were saying.

"We wanted to ask you and Mattie to join us!" Tucker threw out his hands and grinned. "We'd love another set of Frontier Brains!"

"Yeah, and we can battle and train against each other in our down time or when we wait for people to make it to us!" Greta grinned as she looked at me.

"I'd like an opportunity to get stronger and crush you." Lucy's venomous voice touched my ear from the side and I could only grin at her misery in losing to me.

"Well… this is such an honor…"

"Its nothing compared to being a champion of course." Spencer grinned. "But it still means something to us and many trainers."

"No, I know that." I nodded to him. "I'd love to, but…"

"But?" Norland questioned as all of his co-workers looked at me in question.

"I don't know if I can at the moment, because of Rose." I looked up at them and I saw the reflection of my dark look from speaking her name. "She killed my mother, ruined my family, its only right that I pursue her. But do want to join…"

"Well, it's going to take us a while to get the place fixed up, and we can always save yours for when you beat Rose." Anabel noted as she stepped off the counter towards me. "You want to, but you're busy now. We get it. I think we should still let her in, even if we have to wait a few years for her or more. Jezebel is worth the wait."

"Now hold on a second." I turned over to look at my father who stood behind Scott. The shorter man quickly got out of his way and hid behind Brandon while my father approached me. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah… Dad, I have to go after Rose, for Mom." The second I brought up my mother, a dark look was in my father's eyes.

"Jezebel… not again! I just got you back!"

"And who said I was leaving for good?" I cursed at myself as the tears slowly made their way down my cheeks. "Dad, I'm not leaving forever, I'll be with the League, they'll help me and we'll keep each other and everyone else safe from her. But I need to avenge our family after what she's done and stop her from doing this to some other poor child! If I can stop this, trust me, I will! No one should have to lose a parent because of that woman!" I sighed before I got overly emotional. "No one should lose a parent, a husband, a wife, a child, or a friend… that's beyond cruel."

"Jezebel…" My father couldn't come up with an answer this time; he just sulked as he stood there. "Fine… just message me to let me know your okay, call, I wan to hear from you as often as I can."

"I will Dad…" Before I could stop myself, I rushed into my father's arms. He hugged me back just as harshly, crushing my body to his, no differently then when we lost my mother and his wife that day…

"Then we'll keep in mind that we have two new Frontier Brains!" Anabel cheered. "Oh this will be so exciting!"

"What? Two?" I blinked at her from the inside of my father's arms.

"Mattie." Greta grinned. "We talked to him earlier, he agreed, but only would join if you did."

"Really?" My eyes widened. "Wow… I never thought he would agree…"

"He actually was thinking about doing a tag team thing with you, so you two would be together." Brandon snorted a laugh. "But you can work that out later, you need to finish your good-byes, and I owe you this." The man walked over towards me and handed me a small symbol in his hands. My seventh battle symbol I never got: the brave symbol. It looked like a square that was cut into four wide triangles. I held it in my hand before I looked back to Brandon.

"But I didn't battle you."

"No, but standing up to Rose and willing to give your own life for all of us… well, that seems a bit more worthy of the symbol then any, that's why your friends got one too, because they all fought." Brandon chuckled. "We'll be waiting on having you at the Battle Frontier with us, but until then, Champion Jezebel, take Rose down."

I nodded to him. "I will, if it's the last thing I do."

**Witch's Note:**

**OH MY GOD! JEZEBEL'S VOYAGE IS OVER! THIS WAS THE LAST CHAPTER! I CAN'T BELIVE THAT IT'S OVER! **

**Okay, now that I'm done, we got more members for Violet and her organization! And now we must move onto the next story! But first, our last change to answer any questions for this story and to our characters as well, and then maybe find out a bit about the new story as well in the Q's &amp; A's page! It will be posted TWO days from now! I will hopefully see you all soon! Remember, this is one of your last chances to Review and send in Questions!**

**Love you all and see you in forty-eight hours with the last page!**

_**Halloween Witch**_


	38. Q's & A's

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Jezebel's Voyage_

_Chapter 38: Questions &amp; Answers_

Hey Everyone! I'm so happy we managed to make it through story three! I can't even believe that we actually got here! We're halfway through the entire story series! I can't believe I've been working on this for nearly the past three years! It's incredible! But along the way, I have LOTS of questions that you guys sent my way and I'm more then happy, and so are the characters that got asked questions! Trust me, they're ready to go and give you the best answers they can give!

So why don't we get started?

These questions are from _Defender 31415_:

Q: Question for Jezebel: Where and how did you learn how to fight?

Jezebel: Hell yeah! I got the first question! (She cheers for a moment before calming down) Sorry about that, but its pretty cool to get that first question from you and/or anyone. Anyway, I learned how to fight as I grew up in the many different cities. I was alone most days, so besides working with music and taking lessons, I used to sneak out, but of course you know that I already. There's no specific someone behind me fighting, I just trained and learned on my own, let out my frustration by attacking inanimate objects instead of people, but when evil organizations appeared against me, I of course had to use my skills against them. (Winks)

Q: Also, I'm psyched because Jez is gonna get a Flygon! Heck yeah! Those are awesome. Though I don't understand what makes female Trapinch so distinctive...

A: I know this might not quite be a question, but I figured I'd add it in anyway. It's not the female that made it distinctive, but it was the fact that it was shiny that made it stand out compared to the other trapinch. A normal trapinch is tan in color while a shiny one is actually a bluish- dark green.

Q: For Mattie: Do you think you might like being a coordinator?

Mattie: I-I-I got a q-question? (Mattie nearly faints if it isn't for Jezebel)

Jezebel: Mattie! Its only question number three! You can't faint just yet!

Mattie: R-right… sorry about that… (He stands up with her help) I love b-being a coordinator… at the time when I was thinking about it… I really w-wanted to do it… but I was nervous without Jezebel at m-my side, so I competed with her… and that made it so much easier… so much m-more fun… My pokemon love it… and being cute looking in general to the public… it earns us a lot of points in contests…

Q: For Gwyn: What did you think of Serena and Smith's arrangement in which he pays her every time he swears? Could you see yourself implementing that around Violet and Jez?

Gywn: Oh you have no idea how many times I've actually TRIED to do that! (She pouts and looks at the other two champions that laugh at her) Those two just won't listen to me! Honestly, I've tried! Especially with Levy around since I thought I could get away with it, but it didn't work! Honestly! You horrible women! I'll get you one day!

Q: Question is for Violet and Alex. Was it really necessary for you guys to grow STINKING LEGENDARY BIRD WINGS in order for you to apprehend those two criminal coordinators? I mean, now everybody that was there knows you have some kind of abnormal powers. Wouldn't you want to be a little more secretive?

Violet: (Grinning) You know, I was hoping someone would ask us this question!

Alex: (Snorts a laugh) And I actually agree. This book that Halloween wrote was a lot different then the other novels. So I was hoping someone would pick up or ask about this subject.

Violet: Anyway! To answer you question! You are totally in the right for asking about that, especially since we were all quiet and secretive in the last book, right? Well, the reason for it in this chapter was because we _wanted_ our location to be known!

Alex: I'm sure this confuses you a bit, but it's all really simple. You see, when it came to this new region, we didn't have just Rose to think about, or her brother Razi, we had two entirely _large_ criminal organizations that were attacking the entire region, so by letting our location be known, we were able to fool them and lure them into a trap.

Violet: Of course, Rose and Razi were just as important, which is why we had our other members off and in hiding and searching out other locations while we were in the spot light back in Lilycove. It worked out well, didn't it?

Q: What is the thing never confirmed between family members?

A: Jezebel's mother, her condition and if she was actually sane. It was a topic that no one dared to bring up while the woman was alive because they feared her wrath if she lashed out.

Q: For Jezebel: How can you understand pokemon so well?

Jezebel: (Shrugs) I understand them well enough since they were my only friends growing up, it was actually a lot harder to be friends with people then with pokemon. I learned their quirks, the way they did things around their homes, and to frankly honest, I preferred the company _of_ pokemon rather then other humans until my journey started. It was only thanks to those good friends I had that made me see that there were good people and bad, no different then good pokemon or bad ones.

Q: Question (for Rose of all people): What did you mean when you were thinking about Jezebel becoming "one of them"?

Rose: (Spits at us and uses her abilities to talk to us through her mind.) _A changeling you useless excuse for a child. Was that not obvious when I was speaking of that putrid Violet and her group of changeling at her side? I should kill you for asking such a ridiculous question!_ (Rose tries to jump at us, but a magical wall prevents her from reaching us)

Me: Nothing to see here people! She can't hurt you! Promise!

Q: Question for Brittany: Why? Why be a jerk until you die, rather than treat your family kindly and leave them with good memories? That's all they'd have left anyway after you die. Why not grant them that solace?

Brittany (as an angle since she's dead): As I'm sure you've realized as you came close to the end of the story, I was sadly under the influence of Rose and by her orders I was made to hurt my family and push them away from me, so that in the end, when I breathed my last breath, I would be alone. That was my punishment for nearly eight years for trying to stop her from hurting my family. It was not my choice to act that way, it was not my choice to _think_ that way, but my brain was warped by the order she left there.

Q: And question for you, Halloween Witch: Why did you make Brittany like this? She could have simply been overprotective, instead of being someone who rejected her family and their love.

Me: Because it made a more interesting story! If I honestly just made her overprotective like I did back in Violet's story with her mother, would it be interesting? Not as much as this is because it kept you guessing! It made you feel the suffering and relate to certain characters and always kept you on your toes with the family members that were hypnotized!

Q: Given the way ghost types are associated with Rose, why did you decide to give one to a heroine?

A: Oh I was wondering if someone would ask! And as for that, the first reason is because I thought it would be cool to actually give that type to the main character for once when its been viewed before in the last two stories that ghost pokemon were bad or evil. The second is because Jezebel had a different experience with ghost types then Violet and Gwyn did. Violet and Gwyn suffered from ghost type attacks from Rose throughout their journeys and took physical damage upon their bodies or their minds because of it. Due to that, they're not against ghost types as you can see, but as evident, there's a sort of scaring that prevents them from getting super closer to them. Jezebel on the other hand grew up where she strived to make bonds with others from the many severed ones she had. Darkness was one of those pokemon who showed her that ghost pokemon weren't evil, not all of them anyway, just playful.

Q: Question for Violet: You were pretty much "Violet Vilmos: Ace Attorney" during the trial. Do you think you would want to be a lawyer someday?

Violet: (Groans) Oh hell no! I did that for Jezebel and her family because they were so worn, angry and _trying_ to move past the death of their beloved family member. Although… I will say that I enjoyed kicking that lawyer's ass in court… but never would I want to do that for a living, I have something else in mind. (Wink)

Q: Question for Jezebel: Do you have any idea why you felt pleasure when Razi cut your hand open? 'Cause that's really disturbing.

Jezebel: Okay, I was kinda hoping this question actually wouldn't come up from how creepy it is… But a questions a question, and we wanted this, and we got it. (sigh) Anyway… I honestly can tell you I have no idea why I felt that way. It was the creepiest moment of my life when I felt that feeling coursing through my nerves, especially in such a horrible situation… I mean… Maybe because I had such a horrible up brining and I was use to pain that I felt that way? I'm not really sure how else to answer…

Q: Question for Professor Birch: So these "expansion pokeblocks" were created for snorlaxs, who need 880 meals a month. Assuming a month is 30 days, that's 29 meals a day, or 1.2 meals an hour. Why do they need to eat that frequently if they're so lazy? You'd think such a lazy creature would have a low metabolism!

Professor Birch: Incredible! I have to say that you are the very first reader to ask any of us professors a question in any of Halloween's novels! (clears his throat) Anyway, as you have show above in your question, you have provided much information about the snorlaxs, however, what happens in the snorlaxs' body is the exact opposite of what you're thinking! Yes, due to their large size they need many meals a day, and yes, they are lazy in nature and tend to not often fight of affiliate with other pokemon unless they are apart of a trainer's team. However, snorlaxs' bodies are entirely made up of muscles beneath the squishy exterior of their stomach, which is why they have such incredible endurance in battle. The cushion of the fat protects the body while a strong layer of muscle is underneath that as well should the force be too strong for the outer layer of body mass to handle. The only way for a snorlax to keep up this sort of physical shape is to eat as much food in the day as it does, but that also ties into the entire species having a fast metabolism. If a snorlax does not have this condition, it causes great worry for the pokemon's life as it is in fact dangerous if their body does not receive the wide range of nutrition that it craves constantly. I actually have a colleague that takes care of a snorlax of this build, and it's a terrifying sight to see the poor pokemon constantly eating millions of tiny pokebocks that give the nutrition needed to survive, but it is nothing like them stuffing their faces with millions of types of food at a time.

These questions are from _Pokemon cinder_:

Q: I'm just wondering why you've chosen fire type starters so far? Is it just that those are your favorite starters so far or are you doing all fire starters?

A: I honestly chose those pokemon not because I liked the fire type so much, but because that I loved that _pokemon_ so much. And not all the starters are fire in fact. In case you didn't notice, Aria got Sceptile for her starter pokemon (or of the starter three) and in case you think that doesn't count, wait until the next story! We'll have a new pokemon type to work with as a starter!

Q: What's the age difference to Mattie and Jez? I have no idea how old he is and I keep imagining him at some super little kid while I imagine Jez as maybe 13-16. Please let me know because I feel like this might be somewhat important.

A: To be honest, Mattie and Jez are actually only a few months or so apart. No one actually experiences their birthday in this story unlike the other two, we don't exactly know when Jezebel's birthday is, but we have to assume that she's been well past it for a at least a few months or so, because in the first chapter she states that she's turned thirteen, so the day already appeared. And in actuality, Mattie is just a bit younger then Jez, so this makes him one of the first male partners to be younger then his female partner. We don't know when Mattie's birthday was as well, but when he first came to get his first pokemon, he wasn't looking to become a trainer, just have a pokemon with him. But that dream changed over time when he met Jez, so in conclusion, Mattie and Jez are only a few months apart form each other with Mattie being younger, but I can see where you were coming from with the way the two of them acted.

Q: But also what is the time difference between the second story and the third story? Like a few months or a few years? Idk what it is.

A: It's more like a few months between the stories since the actual story takes place over most of the year or over that. If there's a larger time gap, normally I try to make note of that like I did in the first story. Since there was a three year gap between Violet's Trial and Gwyn's Passage.

This question is from _Hello 12_:

Q: Where there any ideas that you scrapped when writing JV (Jezebel's Passage)?

A: Oh my God… I don't know if you guys would believe me, but in the beginning, when I was first working on the outline to the story, I didn't have the whole family drama plan going on. I was just going to do her region and make Archie and Maxie the bad guys like normal. They wouldn't have been related to her! But once I thought it over for a while, I realized that it was going to be too weak of a plot, so I combed my brain for what I could do. And family is one of the major characteristics I try to work with in these stories, so I decided to do that! I think in the beginning I did have the pairs for that story (Jez x Mattie; Casey x Aria) either mixed up or non-existent. I loved Wally in the games, so I was going to use his counter part in my stories (Mattie) somehow and someway, but Casey and Aria were hard in the beginning stages…

I know… that's not exactly scrapped ideas… but truth to be told, I make an outline of what happens throughout the story line, a _very basic_ story line, and then add in parts as I got. When I get a brain blast of ideas, I write them down and see if they would work well in the story, sometimes it takes me a while to get used to the idea, but if it makes you guys happy, I use it. I would write in notes while I was in class or something and add it in at certain chapters where it would be revealed.

Oh! And that reminds me! For those of you who hated/loved Brittany, her character actually was supposed to be nothing like what I made her out to be! At first, I just wanted her to be an over-bearing mother to Jezebel, but then I had been hit with my own personal life with a family member with cancer, and I realized just how much of an emotional impact that it could make on family, so I involved that as well. There's the scrapped idea! I found it!

These Questions are from _Guests_: (This is a compiled section of any questions sent to me by people who do not have a profile and will be all in this category)

Q: Why do the heroines all have fire type starters?

A: Like I said before, it's because I liked these pokemon best, not because of their type. In the next story we will actually be seeing a new starting type for the main character.

Q: Will the third character be Levy?

A: No, the third and fourth character of this story, as I'm sure you saw, was Mattie and Aria.

Q: Will Levy get her own story or will she always just be the tag-along on all the others?

A: You know, I thought about that for the longest of time and to be honest? I don't think I'd give her-her own story per say, but maybe more of a one-shot thing, or a series of one shots for her. I'm still playing around with the idea, but I can see where you're coming from. Levy is mostly in the background, but she has more points as she moves on and isn't a minor in the trainer world anymore. Right now, she has to listen to Violet's commands with the deal she made with Levy's family, and she's under special permission in order to be able to leave home early. So long story short, I'm not sure yet.

These Questions are from _crazywriter9_:

Q: Is there gonna be mega evolution?

A: Actually, yes, there will be, but it won't be until story six, since I feel it just lines up better with the plot.

Q: Will one of the main characters in the future stories be evil?

A: Well… I have a bit of a plot twist going on in my brain… and I kinda want to say yes, but at the same time, no… yeah, I'm leaving this question up for debate. No answer!

Q: What region are you stopping at?

A: Number six, Kalos, I got it all planned out on how I plan to end this story and how I plan to tie up all loose ends.

Q: Also is one of the main characters gonna get a roselia? Because that would be awesome.

A: Mattie got it!

Q: If this is the third book and Rose is already this crazy (and I'm assuming that she doesn't get captured or killed) then what will she be like in the future?

A: …..Let's not go there…. (Secret…)

Q: Why is Rose so freakishly lucky?

A: She's the main villain! If she didn't get away with stuff and got captured all the time there wouldn't be a good story line, would there?

Q: Dang. What does it take to kill Rose? I'm starting to think she has sl syndrome. It causes you to have vast amounts of luckiness.

Rose: _It is not luck that got me this far you fool. I will not stop until I have won it all! And when I get my husband back at my side and rule the world, I'll come for yours next!_ (She leaps again, but the wall stops her.)

Me: Damn it Rose! How many time do I have to tell you that you can't hurt the readers! Get a hold of yourself! Haven't you killed enough?

Rose: (Glaring at me) _No amount of death is enough to match what I've suffered._ (She pounds the wall, hoping that it would break, but it does not.)

These Questions are from _QuestForMyOwnMagic_:

Q: I am confused as to why she (Jezebel) got Blade instead of Guardian? I haven't played the original version so I don't know how Wally did in that one compared to the 3DS remake.

A: I didn't actually get to see the base line of the newer 3DS game versions of this game at all until I had actually gotten through typing most of it (since I pre-write all the chapters months to years in advance so I can keep up with my posting dates) and because of that, I decided to give Jezebel-Blade and give Mattie-Guardian because the two of went better with those personalities. A shy younger boy would need more of a protector rather then an offensive fighter, and I'm not saying that to be rude, but I always envisioned Mattie getting a female gardevior rather then a gallade. Jezebel, being the more outspoken or wild of the two, would be better with a more offensive pokemon, with Mattie getting more of the defensive.

Q: Now I know that is not normal for three evolutions to happen to one trainer in one technical battle. Wonder what it means exactly?

A: Nothing really… I just felt that the two of them were strong enough to evolve then and Silky had had enough time in her cocoon. It's about how it leads up to in the games for me, so that's how I set it up for the story.

These Questions are from me: _Halloween Witch_, to you my dear readers!:

Q: What is the next story going to be called and what should we expect from it?

A: So the forth story that I plan to post for you guys is going to be a story at a different pace then what we're used to. We'll be in the mind of young Eira Helaine who lives with her single mother and is a very shy and quiet girl. Eira is a girl who tends to shy back from new people and prefers to be in the company of herself and her pokemon, or her mother, mother's pokemon or her best friend Parker. And Eira will be a break to the cycle we all have with starter types, she will have a different one then fire! I won't tell you which one until we get to the next story though! Eira Helaine will also be paired up with two other main characters from this story including her best friend Parker Demeet and the lab assistant to Professor Rowan, Cameron Cody. Below is the full summery of this story!

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure: _Everyday a new trainer starts their journey and tries to fight there way to the top and earn the title of 'Pokѐmon Champion'. Eira Helaine is no different, quietly pushing through her fears and problems to make it to the top. But when things start to get a little out of hand and an evil organization starts stealing pokemon and information across the Sinnoh region, does Eira stand her ground and fight through, or hide behind her pokemon and wait for the damage to be done?

Q: How long will it be until you start posting story four?

A: Just like always, I'll be taking a two month break just to catch up on work and to keep ahead of you guys and get you anticipating the next story! I plan to put out the first chapter of Eira's Adventure on January 2, 2016. Be sure to keep an eye out for it people! There's still so much going on that you have no idea what's going to hit you in the next three stories!

Alright; and now comes the time I love and hate all the time, to call this story complete and to move onto the next project… I love you all so much you guys, you have no idea how much I love to hear from you and to answer all these questions with the characters… its so much fun! Thank you all for such an amazing experience and I'll be back soon with the next installment of this series!

Oh, and that reminds me. I also just wanted to let you guys know that once this story is called complete, their still may be a few changes to it. Some grammar, spelling and wording didn't get fixed in time due to my busy life and that of my beta's: so during my time off, we'll be working on that too. So if you see an update, it's just fixing the chapters. No new material will be updated until Eira's Adventure comes out in January.

And give a huge round of applause and praise to my beta: _Defender31415_! You have no idea how much I've appreciated all the help you've given me with this story and I know it wasn't easy, thank you for everything!

_**Halloween Witch**_


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